In a shocking turn of events, Mr Clean of showbiz Akshay Kumar has been called out by his first leading lady Shantipriya from his debut film Saugandh for racist remarks.
According to Shantipriya in an interview to a Hindi daily, when they were shooting together for their film together,Akshay would taunt and humiliate her in front of dozens of people on the set by drawing attention to the colour of her skin. She points out that such remarks would not be acceptable today. But in the 1990s they were seen to be good fun.
Knowing Akshay,he is unlikely to respond to an incident that happened 29 years ago.
A leading lady who has worked more than once with Akshay defends him saying he is incapable of misbehaving with his co-stars. “He does have a huge sense of masti and he often pulls his co-stars’ legs. But this is not done discriminatorily.He does the same with male and female co-stars , without any prejudice or ill will. It’s for fun, and everyone knows it.I don’t know why she has brought this up now after so long.”
The leading lady, who chooses to remain nameless to avoid being trolled, says this kind of naming and shaming will make actors wary of being friendly on the sets.
“Knowing him, Akshay will just clamp up on the sets and keep to himself in future. You never know who is recording the conversation in her mind for future reference,” says Akshay’s leading lady.
