When A Real Life Lawyer Took Reel Life Lawyer, Akshay Kumar's Case!

He’ll be seen as a lawyer in his next film. And actor Akshay Kumar was pleasantly surprised when he, along with co-star Huma Qureshi, visited HT City for our Stars in the City session on Tuesday and met 25 Delhi-based lawyers, who were waiting to interact with him.

Akshay spoke at length about his role in his next, Jolly LLB 2. Recently, a legal case was slapped on the makers of the film with the allegation that it mocks the Indian judicial system. Responding to this Akshay said, “I wonder how each time a film is made, some legal controversy crops up just five days before its release. How come no one thinks of filing a case a few months before? However, ours isn’t a major hurdle, and will be cleared soon.”

The first installment of the film had actor Arshad Warsi playing the main lead. Asked if he had any apprehensions when stepping into his shoes, Akki said, “Not really. Rather Arshad made it easy for me to get into this role because already usne sara dancha banake rakha hua tha (he had already prepared the whole structure). For me, it was just go there and start shooting.”

In fact Akki says he did not even visit any courts to prepare for the role. “My director (Subhash Kapoor) was a political journalist and he knows how the courts work. He shared that with me,” revealed the actor.

Recalling the time when she first heard the script and got to know that it stars Akshay in the lead, Huma shared, “Subhash sir (Kapoor; director) called me to his office and narrated the story, I was super excited and told him we are on and ‘kisi aur ko mat sunana aap yeh’ (don’t narrate this to anyone else now). I am doing this film.”

Akshay was more than happy to take a volley of questions from the audience. From why lawyers are made fun of to what the best and worst traits of lawyers are, he had a quick repartee for every question.

When asked why courtroom scenes are so dramatized in Bollywood films, Akshay admitted that earlier in movies, this used to happen. “It started in the 80s and continued till 2000. I agree there’s a little bit of over exaggeration in films but for the camera, we need to bring in the drama element. It cannot be subtle,” he says.

Another guest asked the actor to share one best and one worst trait of lawyer to which he promptly answered, “The best thing is that they say the truth with so much ease. And the worst is that they can state a lie also with so much confidence that it sounds true.”

Quizzed by a young fan that why we have so many jokes on lawyers, Akshay laughed off saying, “It’s there with all professions. Doctors, politicians, police – sabka mazaak udta hai (Everyone is made fun of). Jiska naam hota hai, wohi badnaam hota hai (Only famous people get to earn bad name).”

He also danced to his hit track Dil Cheez Tujhe De Di as Huma joined in.