Veteran actor Sudhir Pandey has opened up about working with Akshay Kumarrevealing that the superstar occasionally relied on a teleprompter while shooting long scenes in ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’. Having shared space with Akshay in films like ‘Paandav’, ‘Tees Maar Khan’, ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ and ‘Padman’, Pandey also praised the actor’s growth, saying his performances have improved significantly over the years.
Sudhir Pandey on Akshay Kumar’s use of teleprompters
During a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Sudhir was asked about the long-standing industry buzz surrounding Akshay’s use of cue cards and teleprompters on set. Reflecting on their first collaboration in ‘Paandav’, the veteran actor said Akshay initially made an effort to memorize his dialogues, even if help was available.Talking about the actor’s current work style, Sudhir said, “Tees Maar Khan mein toh utna nahi kiya tha. For ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ mein usne help liya tha long sequence mein. Ab ho sakta hai use ek suvidha milti hai, so woh usey abhi abhi karne laga hai sometime (nahiHe is used to something. ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ Maybe now he has started abusing the system It is not easy to adapt something newWhen asked if the large cards placed in front of Akshay would distract other actors during a scene, Sudhir dismissed the concern.“No eye contact with toh hota rehta hai. Yeh toh sirf help karne ke liye rehta hai.” (No, eye contact is maintained throughout. It is only there to provide assistance)The actor further explained that his own approach to acting is quite different. He said he prefers to internalize all the dialogue before acting and can’t imagine relying on a teleprompter while looking at the camera. When Siddharth Kannan asked if this facility would also be available for a character actor, Sudhir smiled and admitted that he was “not sure”.
Sudhir Pandey praises Akshay’s transformation
While talking about Akshay’s work ethic, Sudhir highlighted that the actor has evolved immensely over the years.“Akshay was quite raw. If we compare him now, there has been a jump in his performance. He used to do a lot of recoveries. But with each recovery, he used to improve his performance. Taking recoveries is not bad. Now times have changed. Now, you can make as many recoveries as you want. But in the old days, there were stocks and producers were watching for recovery.”According to Sudhir, Akshay steadily improved with each take, eventually becoming a much stronger performer.
Suneel Darshan had made a similar revelation
Sudhir Pandey is not the first industry insider to talk about Akshay’s reliance on dialogue delivery. Earlier, filmmaker Suneel Darshan had also confirmed that the actor occasionally used banners during the shoots.Speaking to Vickey Lalwani, Darshan had said, “It’s great that an actor can memorize his lines, but it was always difficult for him to remember full pages of dialogues. At first it was manageable because he did less work, but he had a problem during the last few years of working together. We used to put up placards for him to read, and it’s not the first time.”Akshay Kumar was last seen in ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ which received a moderate response at the box office.