"Even as my diligent student, ’Khiladi’ Akshay Kumar used to perform daring risky stunts,” recalls acting-Guru actress-danseuse Madhumati By Chaitanya  Padukone

“Never could I imagine that one of my favorite students Rajiv Bhatia (Akshay Kumar ) would reach such lofty heights in terms of top billing and astronomical remuneration, which he apparently got for the most expensive ‘3-D’ movie ‘2.0’ (year 2018) co-starring superstar Rajnikanth and getting for so many other landmark movies thereafter,” said legendary yesteryear danseuse-actress-turned popular acting coach Madhumati in whose (“MAA”)acting-dancing academy  Akshay was one of the star-aspirant students. This was before Akshay signed on his initial movies ‘Saugandh’ (1991), ‘Dancer’ (1991), and a year later ‘Khiladi’ (1992).

Even during his pre-stardom phase ‘Khiladi Kumar’ Akshay loved to flaunt his dare-devil stunts, Madhumati vividly recalls. “Once we went for a class picnic in two jeeps to Gorai beach (Mumbai) and he would spring-leap from one moving jeep to the other with perfect precision, while we would watch him with bated breath,” smiles actress-dancer Madhumati, who has performed an intricate classical benchmark title-song dance-number ‘Tere Naina’ in ‘Talash’ (1969)! Which incidentally was publicized as the first Hindi movie with a mega-budget exceeding Rs.One Crore.

Being a prankster, did Akshay indulge in nasty-masti during class-hours? “During the breaks, he would heave himself ‘backward’ onto the narrow ledge of our second-floor open balcony parapet and balance precariously on it. Otherwise, he was very hard-working, enthusiastic, and eager to learn. Besides intensive acting workshops,  I would make Rajiv dance to this romantic duet from the musical hit Rajesh Khanna starrer movie 'Aap Ki Kasam' and I found him to be very agile and rhythmic. By nature he was chivalrous, always willing to help out his female batch-mates, even when they went for costumes-shopping,” shrugs Madhumati who had discouraged Akshay from sporting a moustache. “ As his well-wisher, I frankly told him that he could look more dashing, minus his ‘mooch’. Ultimately, when he signed his debut film, he came to take my blessings and looked so handsome ‘without’ his mustache. Today I feel so proud of him; I only wish his caring father Hari Om-ji Bhatia was alive to witness his son’s meteoric rise to super-stardom,” signs off Madhumati-jee, who is personally known to me since past over 30 years

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