MUMBAI: Director Ahmed Khan recently praised Akshay Kumar for his unwavering hard work and dedication, highlighting the lengths the actor goes to for his films.
Khan, who has teamed up with the actor for his next project, "Welcome to the Jungle, " expressed his admiration for Kumar’s commitment to his craft, emphasizing how the actor consistently goes the extra mile to deliver exceptional performances.
In a statement, the filmmaker shared, “This is a journey of a 33-year-old friendship and work collaboration between Akshay and me, which started from Suhaag 1993 to Welcome to the Jungle 2025, and this relationship is getting stronger, and I remember Suhaag was the film before Rangeela when Akshay told me to do this music piece. He's very innovative, and so he wanted me to do that and we did his introduction bit, and I swear, no hero would do that or any choreographer would attempt that because it was his intro, and the character looked like just out of the Baywatch series; he pulled it off so well.”
Ahmed added, “When we shot it, we had fun, and it turned out brilliant, and then I went on with my career with Rangeela and all the stuff and many, many songs with Akshay till we reached Welcome to the Jungle, where I'm directing him. The relation has always been the same, and Akshay is the same person I have known from that time till now.”
The filmmaker went on to add, “Akshay’s enthusiasm, his energy, and the best thing, which I learned from him, is that he's got everything he wants, what he deserves, and what he achieved, but one thing is that he's never got aggressive. He's such a humble person; he never shows his anger. If things go wrong also with anybody around him, he just takes it as a pinch of salt and moves ahead. He always looks at the positive side, and he's been a very good support as a friend to me and I have enjoyed all my work with him till date. So that young Akshay from Suhaag till Welcome to the Jungle, the superstar. I have had a great journey with Akshay.”
Meanwhile, Ahmed Khan is ready to begin the final marathon schedule of "Welcome to the Jungle, " which will be filmed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Helmed by Ahmed Khan and produced by Firoz Nadiadwala, the film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, and others.