Tashan by Vijay Krishna Acharya is an irreverent pastiche done right. The film attempts a heady fusion: channelling the flamboyance of Manmohan Desai, the kinetic energy of Guy Ritchie, and the stylised bravado of Quentin Tarantino, all filtered through the wit of Salim–Javed. But it failed to make an impact at the box office upon release, as it was also one of those hugely anticipated, star-studded projects that ultimately fell short of expectations at the time. And as it bombed, the backlash was relentless. The film was mercilessly trolled, and Acharya recently revealed that amid the growing hostility towards the film, Akshay Kumar stood firmly by his side even as the industry’s mood turned volatile.
In an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, Acharya reflected on that period, saying, “As a commercial film, it was below average, and I think there was a fair amount of flak. The one person who, on the day of the release, called me and then continued to bat for the film on the front foot was Akshay. I remember he called and said, “Never mind, I’m doing your next film, or whatever you want to do next.” It’s sad that I haven’t been able to make another film with him, but that’s the kind of support he offered. There was massive support, obviously, that Aditya Chopra (producer) offered as well.”
Vijay Krishna Acharya said that Akshay Kumar prepared extensively for the role and proved his critics wrong.
Akshay Kumar silenced his critics
Speaking further about Akshay Kumar and the heartfelt, entertaining performance he delivered as Bachchan Pandey, Acharya noted that Akshay proved many of his critics wrong with the role. “I thought he brought a quality to that character which is fabulous. In fact, he beat a lot of his own worst critics in that film because it’s a genuine performance, completely from the heart. For all the people who have any kind of criticism about it, I can only say I enjoyed every day of working on it. I loved it. He came in read with me, he knew his dialogues. The Ram Leela scene the way he did it, all of that is fabulous.”
Acharya also revealed that Akshay’s casting came at the suggestion of producer Aditya Chopra. “It was Adi’s suggestion. I wasn’t initially sure, because I think I had written it very strongly based in Uttar Pradesh and all that so I had an image of the character, but I didn’t have an actor in mind.” Recalling his first meeting with the actor, Acharya said that Akshay’s conviction left a lasting impression on him.
“When I met Akshay and narrated it to him, he was quite remarkable, both during and after the film, for me personally. I remember during the narration, it was a long one, he said, “You know, just tell me the story.” And I said, “No, it’s a film where the dialogue is written; a lot of it is going to be about that.” He heard the whole thing and said, “I’m doing the film.” He even said, “I would have done the film if you had just told me the name of the character. I would have done it just for Bachchan Pandey.””
Watch the episode of Cult Comebacks on Tashan here:
In the same conversation, Acharya also opened up about working with Anil Kapoor, who played the antagonist in the film, and reflected on the commitment of seasoned actors. “Sort of the beauty of all of these guys, especially the old school, and later I witnessed this with Mr. Bachchan as well, is that they’re actually only about the film, the script, and the effort you put in. I used to go to Anil Kapoor’s house and read the script pretty much every day for a couple of months. Then I made some CDs for him and for Akshay, which they would listen to just for the dialect. This is something we often come across. the criticism of mainstream cinema or mainstream actors., that somehow method acting is left to other people and these actors just make their lines up. I had the opposite experience.”
