EXCLUSIVE | Fighter star Akshay Oberoi on working with Hrithik Roshan: 'To get a good role with your childhood crush...'

Akshay Oberoi is fresh off the success of Fighter that’s directed by Siddharth Anand and also stars Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actor spoke about how the project came to him, his experience of working with the ensemble the film boasts off, and how his upcoming slate looks like. Edited excerpts from the interview What are some of the responses you’ve received from fans and critics ever since the release? There’s been a lot of great adulation for the film, I’ve seen all of Sidharth Anand’s films and I think this is his best film and I’m so happy to be a part of it. I’ve never seen a film with such unanimous goodwill, which includes my character too. At the end of the day, to get such a good character in a Hrithik Roshan film is a big deal. It’s been great to play such a memorable role and a tragic character. From seeing my son smile as he was watching the film to the nation calling my character its pride, it fills me with gratitude and blessings. How do you see Siddharh Anand’s transformation as a filmmaker, as he started with romantic comedies and is now making these big scale action entertainers? This is what happens when your entire focus in your career is to be better at your craft. As an actor, I also try to do the same thing. Siddharth is the kind of person you never know what he’s going to throw at you next. How did Fighter happen? So I did a show for Siddharth and Mamta’s company called Flesh, where I played a transgender flesh trade owner. That character was brutal, mean, and menacing, and then they gave me an innocent, endearing, patriotic character in the form of Basheer Khan. They told me they would come back to me and they actually did. I’m grateful to them. This is India’s first aerial action film. What was the entire process of the actors and the team behind the cameras to make the action and the effects look real? The shooting experience was incredible, it was like a dream. It was such a big film and to work with such big stars and to shoot at the airforce base. Every moment on this film felt magical. Siddharth Anand is such a wonderful person to work with so the whole atmosphere on the sets was relaxed. We had all the access to the fighter pilots at Tejpur and they were some of the best that helped us in being authentic. A lot of it is VFX but a lot is also shooting in the cockpit and trying to recreate what happens in the air. What would you like to say about working with Hrithik Roshan , Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor? I’ve worked with Mr. Anil Kapoor in a film called Thar and then Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, I’ve worked in his production called Selection Day; he’s an absolute inspiration and works like a newcomer. Deepika and I had done Piku together and it was an important film for both of us. I’d also like to talk about Karan Singh Grover, in whom I’ve found a friend. Hrithik is a childhood crush, I started dancing because of him, working out in the gym. What next for you as an actor? I’m doing a show called Illegal, whose season three is ready. I’m doing the second season of The Broken News, which starred Jaideep Ahlawat in the first season. I’m then doing a film with Ravi Kishan which is about a coal mine in Bihar, I also have a film called Tu Chahiye that’s directed by Ratna Sinha who directed Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana. And then there’s 2014 with Jackie Shroff.