Actor Akshaye Khanna says it was difficult for him to make a comeback in films after he decided to end his self-imposed sabbatical of four years.
The 42-year-old actor returned to the big screen last year as an antagonist in the action-comedy film "Dishoom".
Akshaye believes if the film industry gets a whiff that an actor is not working, one gets cut off the list of go-to artistes.
In an interview with PTI, the actor says, "There's a perception in the industry that if the actor is not working or has taken a timeout, he or she has left the film circuit. They don't know the reasons.
"They don't try to know whether he left the industry or is it a break. If they have this at the back of their heads that Akshaye is not working, you get scratched from 'the list'."
Akshaye, who will next be seen in "Mom", featuring Sridevi in the lead, says he wants to do more work but it will take him some time to get back to the grind of the film business.
"I want to do more work now. It takes time to gather momentum when you start working again. Because filmmaking is a long process and it is difficult to find work that you connect with. To get into the process of doing back-to-back films, it takes getting a little used to," he says.
The actor, who has featured in hit films such as "Taal", "Dil Chahta Hai", "Humraaz" and "Hungama", says as an artiste he is not worried about his contemporaries moving ahead in their careers but he fears being rejected by the audiences.
"The fear of every actor is when is this life going to be snatched away from me? Which is the day or year that the audience is going to decide 'that's it'.
"There's a point when the audience says enough. That is the only fear, there is no fear of comparison with the other heroes."
Akshaye says he considers himself lucky that he is still getting work and it has made him more humble.
"I'm not saying it out of conceit, but out of gratitude, that the kind of break I took, then to be able to come back, get the work that I'm getting, is not common. It's not something that I can take casually. It is something I value tremendously, I'm grateful for it."
Akshaye believes there are certain films in every actor's life that have a lasting effect.
"Such films that the audiences remembers 10-15 years after they released come by rarely. They remember you for only one reason - the impact. You are lucky if you get to do even one."
Apart from the Ravi Udyawar-directed film, the actor will also be seen in "Ittefaq", featuring Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha.
"Mom" releases this Friday.
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