Akshay Kumar reveals what he feels is the true meaning of 'mandir'

Akshay Kumar

National Award winning actor Akshay Kumar says the Hindi film industry does its bit by packaging good social messages via entertaining mediums.

At the 'Transform Maharashtra' conclave as part of the 57th Maharashtra Day celebrations here on Monday, the actor was asked about the role of Bollywood in bringing changes in society.

"Bollywood does package of lot of good messages through entertainment. In 'Pink' it gave such a good message that 'no means no'," Akshay said.

"I also did a film called 'Oh My God'. It was something about wasting milk on statue of gods and other unnecessary religious beliefs. The message it gave was to support poor people instead of giving share of your wealth to unnecessary sections of society who fool the innocent to make their own gain in the name of god." he added.

He does not just preach, but practices it too now.

"I also used to visit Vaishno Devi mandir in every 6 months and I used to spend around Rs 200,000 to Rs 300,000 for that entire trip, but later I realized that instead of visiting that place, if I donate that amount of money to some needy people, then it will be much greater work."

"I feel the true meaning of a 'mandir' is to understand that God lives in your heart and he just teaches you to support needy people. Bollywood over the years is constantly making films and giving very good messages through entertaining ways," Akshay said.

In the last few years, Akshay's image has undergone a transformation from that of an action star to one who chooses films which are socially relevant and delivers a message. "Special 26", "Airlift", "Baby" and the upcoming "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" are cases in point.

Asked about the process of choosing such diverse roles in his films, he said: "I have my digital team which suggests me by monitoring social media to do certain kind of socially relevant films and then I analyse and research about it. It is just unbelievable to see the kind of stories India has.

There's also "Padman" that Akshay is doing. The film is a biopic on a man who introduced affordable sanitary napkins for the benefit of women.