The 9th and 10th of September are important dates for Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. Wondering why? Action star Akshay Kumar turns 43 today while Salman Khan’s much awaited Dabangg releases tomorrow. While Akshay will be busy launching the first look of his film Action Replayy , Salman must be pretty tied up with the premiere of ‘Dabangg’.
Apart from Eid being auspicious for both the stars, it’s also common knowledge that Salman and Akshay are largely blamed for beginning the trend of actors charging excessively for films. In an interview with Komal Nahta, Salman flatly denied the charge even turning the table on his producers, “I don’t charge that much money at all, even if I do charge, I don’t get most of it…Now I’ve started making strict contracts.” He further adds, “My image will change, and people will probably call me money-minded but if you sign me, you have to pay up. It doesn’t matter if you earn a profit or not, you wouldn’t sign me in the first place if I didn’t guarantee you a profit” he shrugs.
In an interview during the promotion of Khatta Meetha, Akshay Kumar swatted away the accusation, “This accusation is baseless,” he explains, “Because if you sign me, even for an exorbitant price, you did so because there is something for you in it.” He adds, “I figured a solution for this (the studio system) and set up my own production (Hari Om Productions). I’m producing Khatta Meetha and I’m selling it at a right price. So people can’t blame me of overpricing because I’ve made my price zero and I’m joining hands with the distributors…We (Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar)don’t hold a gun to someone’s head and make them give us the money. You can’t blame us for this.”
The birthday boy seems to know his numbers, but we’ll let him off the hook for now. While Akki will be celebrating his special day with his family, Salman might just be in for a noisy weekend looking at the waves ‘Dabangg’ has created even before its release!
Here’s wishing Akshay Kumar a wonderful birthday and Salman Khan a huge success!
