From his style of eating mangoes to doing films closely reflecting Modi government's pet projects, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar on Tuesday faced a number of questions, ranging from interesting to bizarre, at a press event of his latest film "Mission Mangal" here.
A journalist asked about the trend on social media about the connection between the films he was doing and the projects that were being implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But before he could reply, another question came his way, asking about his role in (the revoking of) Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Let me first answer the lady's question," Akshay said but was interrupted a second time with a question alluding to his interview with Modi in April.
"Please also tell us how you eat mangoes," the journalist asked.
"I'll tell you," Akshay said as he proceeded to answer the first question.
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"Modi sir did Swachh Bharat in 2014, 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha' came in 2017. So, you are wrong," he said. The Chandrayaan project has been in development since 2015 and we started shooting 'Mission Mangal' in December 2018. So, even that is not possible. This is all coincidental," the actor said.
"ISRO was established on August 15, 1969 and it is coincidental that our film is releasing on the 50th anniversary of its formation. I got to know about this months ago. About 'Kesari', it is a film set in 1897 on a real-life event in which we were attacked, we didn't attack anyone. This has got nothing to do with what you're saying," he added.
Akshay refuted reports that he was in on a project based on National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
When asked again about Article 370 and the controversy over singer Mika's performance in Karachi amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan, Akshay said,"I don't want to comment on all these things."
The star, who has been releasing his films during the Independence Day week for some time, also brushed off the tag of being the new era Manoj Kumar, saying, "You would strip me off this label or any other tag when my next film 'Housefull 4' comes out."
There was also curiosity about his political plunge and the actor did not completely dismiss the question, saying, "Abhi nahin aa raha (not right now)."