Holiday: Vipul Shah: I call Akshay Kumar sir

The success of Holiday — A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, has taken the long-standing association between Akshay Kumar and producer-director Vipul Shah to a new high.
“Whenever I have designed a product for Akshay, he has placed tremendous trust in me. In this case, director AR Murugadoss added a lot of value to the project,” says Vipul. Attributing their success to offbeat ideas and unique storylines, the filmmaker says, “We constantly challenge each other. He wants me to create more demanding roles. We often discuss how we can make our films, music, locations and marketing better. I have always tried to do something different in every film I did with him.”

Listing out some examples, he adds, “I have never made him repeat a genre. While Aankhen was a thriller, Waqt: The Race Against Time was a family film. I made him play a Punjabi munda in Namastey London and a Sikh in Singh Is Kinng. He agreed to experiment with Action Replayy and though the film didn’t work, his faith in me was never shaken.”

Though they share a deep bond, it doesn’t affect work. “Even today, I call him sir and aap; I give him the respect he deserves. Whatever our personal equations are, I never forget that I am working with a big star,” explains Vipul.

Don’t they have disagreements? “That is bound to happen in a creative process, but we are both open-minded. Many a time, I accept his suggestions because he has got a lot of experience. And there are times when he goes ahead with my vision as well,” concludes the filmmaker.