Akshay Kumar On Kannappa Vs Maa Box Office Clash: Actor Has A Message For Kajol, 'Bhai' Ajay Devgn

The box office is gearing up for a battle this coming Friday as Kajol's Maa is releasing alongside Vishnu Manchu's much-anticipated movie Kannappa. The two titles are in different genres, offering viewers different choices to pick from. On one hand, Maa is a horror film, set in the world of Ajay Devgn and R Madhavan's Shaitaan and will mainly cater to Hindi viewers, Kannappa is a mythological action drama about Lord Shiva's biggest devotee, features Prabhas, Akshay Kumar, Mohanlal and Kajal Aggarwal in cameo roles and will release pan-India.

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Before the big clash on June 27, Akshay, who plays the role of Lord Shiva in Kannappa, sent a shoutout to the team of Maa, Kajol and Ajay Devgn. "Yaar Ajay hum dono ki picture aa rahi hai iss Friday. Tu apne fans ki good wishes #Kannappa ko bhej de aur main mere Mahadev ki blessing #Maa ko. Kya bolta hai? Goodluck to Kajol and you bhai…May the power be with you (sic)," the Sky Force actor wrote in a post on social media. He also shared a small teaser of Maa.

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Akshay will make his Telugu film debut with Kannappa. The actor's look in the movie has grabbed eyeballs. Kajal will feature opposite him as Goddess Parvati. Lead actor Vishnu Manchu shared in an interview how Akshay turned down Kannappa twice and he had to approach him through another director (Sudha Kongara), before he finally agreed.

"When I was writing the film, I couldn’t help but see him in that role. His body structure, with a jatta, gives a divine appearance. Akshay Kumar rejected my film twice. Later, I approached him through filmmaker Sudha Kongara when they were shooting for Sarfira. I told her, 'I really want to cast Akshay as Lord Shiva, please talk to him once.' She spoke to him and convinced him to get on a phone call with me," Vishnu shared.