Akshay Kumar believes new actresses are not too willing to take risks
Mumbai, June 24
Actor Akshay Kumar will soon be seen leading Ahmed Khan's upcoming laughter ride, 'Welcome to the Jungle', scheduled to release in theaters on June 26, 2026.
He has worked with actresses from different generations in his next. During an exclusive interaction with IANS, Akshay revealed that he feels today's actresses are less willing to take risks as compared to their seniors. Apart from this, he further said that they come to the industry better prepared.
Akshay was asked, "You have worked with different generations of actresses in this film. There are 90s actresses, then 2000 actresses like Lara Dutta, and after that, there is Disha Patani. What difference do you find between actresses of different generations? or, we can say, different decades?
Responding to the question, the 'Welcome' actor told IANS, "Well, they are all very professional. They are all beautiful.
They are all good actresses. So, there is not much of a difference. Yes, I would say that today's actresses are more prepared than we used to be. They know everything. They have learnt a lot before entering the industry."
When director Ahmed Khan was questioned, "But, do you think, that since they are so prepared, somewhere or the other, the rawness, as a director, do you miss that?" he reacted saying, "See, earlier, actors used to be raw, we had to teach them. We had to teach them, fundamentally, what to do. Today, they are fundamentally correct."
Adding to the conversation, Akshay pointed out that today's actresses are not willing to take major risks, whereas actresses in the past were willing to take risks.
Explaining his point further, he added, "Not a lot of multi-starrers are made these days because they are not ready to adapt to the fact that why should we work in a multi-starrer movie."
Akshay further requested all the young actors to do multi -starrers as he feels that it is important that people watch them.
"If you see, Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, they all used to do films together. I think, if we can do multi-starrers, it will be good for the industry", he concluded.
— IANS
Reader Comments
I think risk-taking depends on the situation. Many actresses like Disha Patani do action scenes and stunt work. But perhaps what Akshay means is the willingness to be part of large ensemble casts where screen time is split. Back in the day, actresses like Madhuri Dixit shared screen with multiple heroes and still shone. Today, maybe it's a confidence issue? Or maybe agents tell them it's not strategic for Instagram followers. Social media has changed everything, yaar.
Akshay bhai is completely right about multi-starrers. Look at the South Indian film industry—they still do multi-starrers successfully. Even in Bollywood, films like *War* or *Pathaan* worked because of star power combinations. But today's younger actresses probably worry about being overshadowed or getting fewer item songs. Personally, I miss those films where 3-4 heroines would have distinct roles and style. *Welcome to the Jungle* could revive that!
As someone who watches Bollywood from abroad, I find this interesting. In Hollywood, multi-starrers are common (like Marvel or *Ocean's 11*), but Indian actresses sometimes seem reluctant to share the spotlight. However, I also understand—women in Indian cinema have historically been given less substantial roles in such films. Prepare better? Yes. Taking risks? The industry needs to give them better roles to take risks on.
I partly agree but also feel Akshay is generalizing too much. Actresses like Alia Bhatt (though not in this film) have taken immense risks with content-driven films like *Gangubai* or *Raazi*. Also, am I the only one thinking—is this his way of promoting *Welcome to the Jungle*? 🤔 Either way, excited to see Paresh Rawal, Disha, Lara, and Akshay together.
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