The humble khiladi

Filmmaker Karan Johar on Monday said actor Akshay Kumar was one of the rare Bollywood stars who chose content over the scale of a project or director. After working on action dramas such as Brothers and Kesari, Karan is once again collaborating with Akshay — this time on the light-hearted Good Newwz.

“I went with a big film to Akshay because he is a mega movie star. Akshay’s uniqueness is that he searches for content. He never looks for scale or opulence or who is the director. He is one superstar who has always supported first-time directors and that’s rare for a movie star,” Karan said.

Content first

Karan shared his views at the trailer launch of Good Newwz, directed by debutant Raj Mehta. The film also features Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani. Karan said Good Newwz marks Akshay’s 23rd film with a budding director, claiming he is “the only movie star who has worked with so many debut directors”.

Akshay recalled getting a narration from Karan regarding the other “big” film. “I asked Karan what else he was making. He told me he was making a small film called Good Newwz. I asked him to narrate its story to me. After listening to it, I told him, ‘Let’s drop the other one and do Good Newwz,” Akshay added. The film is scheduled to be released on December 27. — PTI