Romance is the flavour of the season for Bollywood this year, especially after the success of Saiyaara. And Akshay Oberoi is excited to be returning to this genre after a long time with his next, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari. Ask him about this revival of the romance genre and he says, “I feel there is always room for romance in our cinema. It is the history of our cinema, you just need the right reminder.”
Akshay Oberoi adds, “People are very scared in our industry right now because things are not working and they don’t know what will click. It is a very confused state of affairs right now. But films like Saiyaara showed that you don’t need a big tentpole action film with big stars to run, you can make a good romantic film and it will work too. It’s a good reminder that we should focus on good content and make stories from our hearts with its innocence.”
While he is happy coming back to the romcoms, he reveals why he took a sabbatical from it in the first place. “I just walked away from it because certain things weren’t shaping up and I was looking for a way for the industry to take me seriously as an actor. So I went into an extremely different direction and did off beat films. But now I am back to the mainstream genre after Fighter (2024). I am doing films with bigger stars and directors, and it has led me to quintessential romantic, family fun entertainers,” he says.
On his international debut and Toxic
Recently, there were rumours of Akshay making his international debut soon, and the actor confirms to us that it is in the pipeline. “The news came out a bit earlier than it should have, but I did go to the US for some things. Fingers crossed, it happens soon,” he says, adding, “I grew up in the US, so the American accent is so much a part of my wheelhouse, that up late I have realised I would love to explore American characters with Indian descent. Six months ago, I got an agent there and I have been auditioning for stuff.”
The recent trip to the US that he took was actually a work trip. “I got closer to confirmation for something that’s why I went to New York. Even if it doesn’t happen, it’s okay as this won’t be the first time I have been rejected. But I will definitely want to expand and explore something on the global scale. I am auditioning regularly there. I have been sending self tapes from here through my agent and I am sure something will happen soon for sure,” he says.
“Earlier, I used to be scared of diversifying. But as you grow, you want more challenges and get better at your craft. And the best way to do that is to work in multiple languages and keep testing your boundaries. I am in that phase of my career,” Akshay says, as he is also doing a Kannada film Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups with actor Yash. “I married into a family of Kannadigas, and the first project I am doing outside of Hindi is a Kannada film. My entire family is super excited for that and they are all huge Yash fans, so even they are now taking me more seriously,” he quips.
