‘Bro, nobody came to watch your film’
Shailendra Singh claimed that Akshay Kumar failed to return the money after the film failed to impress the audience. Shailendra Singh revealed that ‘8×10 Tasveer’ was supposed to be a Rs 30-35 crore film that was to be shot in Munnar but owing to Akshay Kumar’s packed schedule, they had to travel to various places to shoot the film. “Akshay was a very busy man. From Munnar, we landed up in Calgary (Canada). From there we landed in Cape Town (South Africa). We landed up in lots of places,” he recalled.
Shailendra said he had pitched Singh Is Kinng to Akshay Kumar, who was instantly drawn to the idea. He revealed that the original storyline revolved around a Sardar from Punjab travelling to the UK to retrieve the Kohinoor and bringing it back hidden in his turban, envisioning the film as a heist drama with the title already in place. “Akshay told me, ‘I am doing Tasveer for you, you let me do Singh Is Kinng.’ I said, ‘Take it.’ They thanked me in the credits,” he recalled.
Singh stated that no one turned up to watch the film in theaters. He said, “I told him, ‘Bro, nobody came to watch your film. You have to take some responsibility. You took a lot of money from me.'” The producer shared that Akshay refused to return any amount to him, and after that, he stopped producing films altogether.
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‘Akshay Kumar has a strategy; he starts slow’
Shailendra Singh also claimed that Akshay increases his quote slowly and makes sure he is paid what he wants. “Akshay is a very nice guy, very sporting but very money-minded. So Akshay has got a strategy. He starts slow,” he said and gave an example with hypothetical figures. “First, he will take Rs 15 cr from you, then he will take you to Rs 21 cr, then Rs 21 cr will turn to Rs 27 cr, then he will talk about his lucky number 9 so if it is Rs 33 cr, it will go to Rs 36 cr casually,” he said and added, “He knows business. He is a business man first then an actor,” he said. Shailendra recalled paying Akshay Kumar Rs 9 crore for a song in his animated film Jumbo. “He managed to get Rs 9 cr out of me to dance on one song,” he said.
Shailendra said that after Singh is Kinng released and became a hit, he wanted to get his title back because in the sequel, the makers were not even using the same title. He had to sue the makers to get his title. “I didn’t let it go. I went back and I asked for my title. I said, now that you are done, you have made money, now give me my title. They said no. I went to the director, he said Akshay has the title. Then it was something like it is jointly owned. I sued them. I fought and got the title and I own it now,” he said and added, “The decency was not there to give the title back to me. I had to fight for it.” Shailendra said that when he wanted to make another film with Ranveer Singh, with the same title, “Akshay said, you can’t do a film, you can only do an OTT series.”
In the past, while speaking at Aap Ki Adalat, Akshay Kumar had responded to money-minded allegations and said, “Agar paisa kamaya hai toh loot ke nahi kamaya. Maine kaam karke kamaya hai. 8 saal se I have been the highest taxpayer (I have earned money but not by stealing from someone. For the last 8 years I have been the highest taxpayer). Toh, it cannot be that I am money-minded or anything. Money is an important aspect in life, you have to be practical.”
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Akshay Kumar net worth and FDs
Akshay Kumar, known for his work ethics and discipline, has a net worth of around ₹2700 crore, which is valued at approximately $325 million, as reported by Forbes in 2024. This positions him among the wealthiest actors in the industry. A significant portion of his income is derived from the film industry, where the cost of a project ranges from ₹70 crore to ₹145 crore, according to the Celebrity Net Worth report.
During his appearance at The Great Indian Kapil Show 3, the actor in a light-hearted conversation opened up about financial stability. The ‘Airlift’ actor said, “Maine ek news padhi thi, bohot pehle ki baat kar raha hu, ki Jitendra sahab ne 100 crore ki fixed deposit hai. I still remember I ran to my father and asked – “Daddy, 100 crore ki fixed deposit matlab interest rate mein kitna paisa aata hoga?” (I read news long ago that Jitendra sahab had a 100-crore fixed deposit. I ran to my father and asked how much interest it would generate).
He added that back then the interest rate was 13 percent, meaning one would earn 1.3 crore per month. He humorously added, “Uske pass 100 phir 1000 crore ki FD karni hai phir 2000 crore ki karni hai, chalta hi rehnda hai” (Then humans are never satisfied, 100 becomes 1000 crores, then 2000 crores, it keeps going).
