Bollywood Hungama

EXCLUSIVE: Akshay Oberoi credits Geetu Mohandas 13-year-old daughter for his Toxic casting: Geetu saw Fighter at daughters insistence, liked my performance; reveals he was asked to perform The Godfather dialogue for audition

Akshay Oberoi impressed the audience with his short but impactful performance in Yash-starrer Toxic. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, the talented and dashing actor spoke about his experience of working on the film a lot more. Toxic is your biggest film to date. What are your thoughts now that it has finally released in cinemas? You said it yourself. Its the biggest film I have done. It has opened me up to an audience that didnt know me. Theres a chunk of cinemagoing audience in the South that are probably discovering my work for the first time. Across the country, the film probably must be playing in around 12,000-13,000 screens. Also, the box office number on the day of release has been astronomical. Some films do such numbers in their lifetime and they are called successful. Hence, its been very cool to be a part of that experience. It was also lovely to be on the promotional tour. I am grateful to Boss (Yash) and Geetu Mohandas that they even invited me to come, celebrate and promote the film across the country. It was super-fun (smiles). Before Toxic, Geetu Mohandas had made small-budget films like Liar's Dice (2013) and Moothon (2019). Did you ever imagine that Toxic was going to be a big-scale production when it was offered to you? Well, we are all plugged into the business. Hence, I knew that Geetu Mohandas was doing a film with Boss. Once I found out that the film being offered to me is directed by her, I knew what the film was. Udti-udti khabarein suni thi maine ki aisi koi film ban rahi hai. As a result, I knew the scale of the film a day before she was going to call to offer me the film. In my mind, it was already a yes. It was not like main baat karunga aur fir main sochunga. I was sure Ill give my nod for the project. At the Toxic trailer launch in Bengaluru, you revealed that you were told to mouth a dialogue from The Godfather (1972) as part of your audition Yes. She saw my film Fighter (2024), after which she got in touch with me. It's all thanks to her 13-year-old daughter, by the way! Geetus meeting had got cancelled and she was free. Her daughter insisted that she wanted to see Fighter. She agreed. She saw me in Fighter, liked my performance and sourced my number. She told casting director Yash Nagarkoti that I know how he acts in Hindi, but I want to see how he acts in English. Hence, I was asked to send an audio of me speaking an English dialogue. I agreed and asked Yash Nagarkoti which scene I should perform. He told me to mouth a dialogue of Moe Greenes character from The Godfather. However, instead of simply sending an audio clip, I wore a suit, did my hair, performed the entire scene on camera and sent it to her. She told me she hadnt expected that. I replied, I was getting a chance to act in front of you. I wasnt going to miss that opportunity. Audio bhej ke kya karta main? If I had a chance to make you watch me act, I thought I should put it on tape and do it in the best way possible. Thats how I bagged the part. Its the film where I probably learned the most, including about the business of cinema. There were so many big stars and hence, it was a complete learning graph. Was your death scene the most difficult one? Yes. Having said that, I dont ever view acting like a difficult thing. Its a joy. Getting a scene like that was so much fun. Of course, I am crying and screaming in that sequence. But I never find acting a burden and I am not like, Oh, I have to do such a scene aur isliye main 4 ghante soch raha hoon. I go with the flow and be in the moment. I work a lot on the character, like who the guy is, what he is after, where he has come from etc. I also make sure that I know my lines very, very well. Then, you surrender to the moment. You have fun. Similarly, after completing that days shoot, I didnt go home thinking, Oh, what a difficult day. Thank God, its over. Instead, I was sad because the best scene I had in the film, the one where I got to do the most acting, was over! Were you shocked reading the twist in the climax of Toxic when the film was offered to you? No, as we were only narrated until where we were in the film. Nobody knew the rest of the script! As time went on and because I got close to Geetu and Boss, I was able to roughly figure things out. You addressed Yash as Boss. Since when are you doing that and how did it start? Its a title given to him by his ardent fans who know him since the beginning of his career. Later on, he got the tag of Rocking Star Yash. However, the Boss title predates the Rocking Star Yash tag. And the title is apt because he is a boss. Everyone on the set and the people working for his production house, Monster Mind Creations, also call him Boss as hes such a leader. Toh woh dil se cheez nikalti hai. I just cant call him Yash sir, it has to be Boss. Seeing him exposed me to so many things about my own career. I realized I am running behind big producers and directors. I guess doing so is important as well. But this man has believed in himself and invested in himself. Of course, hes an actor par excellence, but he has learned every department of filmmaking from lighting and editing to screenplay, distribution, production design and practically every other aspect of the craft. Hes curating his own content and carving his own path. Hes not waiting for anybody. The problem of an actor is that we wait for that one phone call that would change our lives. Hence, when I saw him, I realized that theres a whole different way of achieving your dream. This is the reason people like Yash are called path-breakers. When I saw that, it made me realize that mere andar yeh cheez nahin thi. But now I have imbibed the quality from him and youll see me implementing it big time in the next few years. I dont know exactly when, but I know how. For that reason, I have to call him Boss. I have given him that place in my mind and heart as hes that for me. Also Read: Akshay Oberoi says he feels fortunate to join Geetu Mohandas female-led cast in Toxic