Akshay Kumar On Why It Took Him Time To Bond With Sarfira Director Sudha: 'She Was Telling Me What To Do'

Akshay Kumar recently said that it took him a while to gel with Sarfira director, Sudha Kongara, as he was not used to her way of directing. A remake of the National Award-winning film, Soorarai Pottru, Akshay fills Suriya’s shoes in the Hindi version. Sudha had directed Soorarai Pottru and reprised her role of helming the Hindi version. Speaking about working with the director, Akshay recalled that it took them five or six days to get along well with each other.

In a recent chat with Galatta Plus, Akshay was asked about the first day of the shoot. He said, “The first day of shoot… It always takes time for the actor to blend with the director. I have to learn their way of working. It took a little time on Sarfira, maybe five or six days. And then, after that, it was very smooth sailing.”

Akshay added, “Sudha is a director who sets up her camera and tells the actor what they need to do. But there are many directors who ask, ‘You tell me what you’re going to do, and I’ll move the camera accordingly. Sudha was telling me what I have to do, not the other way around.”

In an earlier conversation with Galatta Plus, Sudha Kongara admitted that she and Akshay Kumar took time to get on the same page when they began filming the movie. “Suriya is Suriya. I have known him for over 25 years, and it’s much easier to tell him what I want. It’s very friendly and casual. But with Akshay sir, it’s ‘sir’ first of all, and I was meeting this gentleman for the first time. Since I have no filters, it was almost similar. The first six days, he wasn’t happy. He was like, ‘What is this girl making me do all this rubbish?’ So then he and the producer spoke to me, and I said, ‘You do whatever you like to do, and I will tell you when it isn’t going right,’” she said.

“I also had to let go because I had created the perfect Maara in my head, and I thought there could be nobody better than Suriya, and that’s how it had to be played. I soon realised that I was suffocating this actor who had his own method, so I had to let go,” she added.

Eventually, Akshay and Sudha eventually found a middle ground. “After six days, I showed him a cut of a particular scene, and the next day he came to me and said, ‘I have a way of performing. I have a way of doing things and a process, but this is the first time I am trying to understand what is going on in your head. I am trying to give you that.’ I said, ‘Very good. I love it.’ From there, we made peace, and we had a wonderful time shooting with each other. I really enjoyed working with him. He keeps saying, ‘Isko toh filter he nahi hai (She doesn’t have a filter),’” Sudha said.