Exclusive/ I Want To Be The Sun, Not Star: Akshay Kumar Takes A Dig On Lack Of Discipline Among Bollywood Actors

Akshay Kumar was among the many dignitaries who graced the Republic Plenary Summit 2025. The actor, in a candid conversation with Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, shed light on the importance of discipline and how it is a stepping stone in making India limitless. The 57-year-old cited the example of sportspeople Sania Mirza and Anil Kumble, seated in the audience, to stress on the importance of following a routine and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Akshay Kumar is one of the few Bollywood actors known to follow a healthy lifestyle and value punctuality. He has a reputation for waking up on time and concluding his workday before late evening, a practice, he says should be carried out by all. However, this is not something the actor has in common with his peers. Shedding light on the same he said, “First of all, I will say, I don’t want to be a star. Because stars raat mein nikalte hain. (Because stars come out at night.) I want to be the sun. I don’t want to be the star.”

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He then pointed at former tennis champion Sania Mirza, who was in the audience, and used her as an example to demonstrate how discipline translates into success. He said, “Sania ji yahan par baithi hain. (And about what you asked regarding discipline, Sania ji is sitting here.) She is a sports lady. She has done so wonderful for our country. How important is discipline? Ask her if she has where she has reached, was it without discipline? It is not possible! She had to be disciplined, she had to get up in the morning, go play tennis. Was it easy? Discipline is indeed an important thing.”.  

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The actor went on to say that he is taken aback when he is confronted about his early rising and sleeping. He argued, “The worst thing is a lot of media asks this question, ‘Sir, why do you sleep so early?’ Toh bete main kya karu? (So, what should I do?) How can this be a question? Don’t you think they should ask the person why they sleep so late? They should be asking that, but things have changed. It is important to change this).”

In the same conversation, Akshay also explained why he continues to pick subjects based on nationalism and patriotism for his films, despite some of them even underperforming at the box office. In his signature style, the actor quipped, “Since I have started my production house. I have made a lot of films about my country. My wife (Twinkle Khanna), teases me, saying 'How many times I will save my country' (in the movies). I used to see in movies growing up that whenever there is a problem, America saves us. Be it terrorism, natural calamaties or alien attack. I always wondered, if America will do everything then what will we do?” He went on to add, "Then I made Airlift based on a true story. I found the story about India's space achievements and how in limited money we achieved a limitless thing. The movie I made was called Mission Mangal. We made Sky Force also. I know the business of films is not that big because people like entertainment. I will keep on making films about my country. After the film releases, they work on OTT. A lot of officers in the Army and Air Force and cops tell me that they show such movies to their kids. That is what I will earn."

He concluded by praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his relentless work towards the betterment of the country and for taking India to grater heights on the global map.

Also Read: Akshay Is Determined To Make More Patriotic Movies | Republic Summit

The Republic Plenary Summit is proudly presented by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, with JAC Olivol as the Co-Presenting Partner. The summit is Co-Powered by Canara Bank, Radico, Apollo Hospitals, Reliance Digital, Ravin Group, and Rungta Steel. We are honoured to have Reva University as our Knowledge Partner and Wildstone as our Hackathon Partner.

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