Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra face-off this August 14th in & as Brothers. Brothers marks a power-packed partnership between Akshay Kumar & Producer Karan Johar.

Brace yourself for a cinematic explosion of love, fraternal rivalry and high drama as Brothers sets screens ablaze this. Released by Fox Star Studios worldwide, the high-octane family drama stars international icon Akshay Kumar along with Sidharth Malhotra (Ek Villain), Jacqueline Fernandez (Kick) and Jackie Shroff (Dhoom 3) in pivotal roles. Indian Weekender caught up with Akshay Kumar for a chit chat.

Maya: Why is this film important to you?

Akshay: This movie is very close to my heart, it means a lot to me, especially because it is a movie about Martial Arts, which makes it even more important for me. The movie is releasing in August this year, which also coincides with me completing 25 years in the film industry and it means so much to me that this happens to be a movie about Martial Arts commemorating the accomplishment of my 25 years, when it’s because of my martial arts background that got me into the film industry in the first place. We’re literally going full circles.

Maya: Could you please tell me more about the character you’re playing in Brothers?

Akshay: My character is a school teacher who teaches Physics and Chemistry. He used to be Mixed Martial Artist who would fight on the streets for money. Mixed Martial Arts is a very dangerous profession and due to monetary issues, my character faces he has no choice but to go back to the streets to fight in a professional tournament.

Maya: How was your experience working with Karan Johar?

Akshay: Karan is mainly in the production side for this movie so I don’t really get to work with him much. But he really knows how to make big and brilliant movies; he knows how to do it right and I’m just here to make him happy.

Maya: Mixed Martial Arts sounds dangerous!

Akshay: Yes, Mixed Martial Arts is a dangerous practice that could result in injuries and loss of life. Even during filming we would end up with abdominal injuries and smacks on our face but overall it was important for the role to look realistic and conditioning for us actors to make the movie as real as possible.

Despite being a professional martial artist, I underwent vigorous training for six months to be fit for the role. But besides all the fighting, there’s also a poignant love story at the heart of the film which we find out later is the main reason why my character goes on to become a street MMA fighter.

Maya: What all was involved in the training for the role?

Akshay: The main part of the training was a 6 month intense and grueling work-out followed by practicing different fighting styles like Judo, Karate, Kyudo, Aikido and other Mixed Martial Arts.

Maya: What was the most challenging part of your role?

Akshay: The most challenging part was fighting like a professional MMA fighter, learning from the best and then trying to catch up with their fighting techniques! But I thoroughly enjoyed it as my teachers are from everywhere around the world – from Brazil, LA, Bangkok and Japan - they are true MMA fighters. It was an honour to learn from the best.

As part of our training programme I had to lose up to 16 Kg’s and Sidharth Malhotra had to gain 13 Kg’s in weight!

While fighting was a major physical challenge, we also had to face a lot of mental challenge. A very high level of mental attention is required to remember your punches and every move.

Maya: Wow that must have been a challenge! Do you ever take a break?

Akshay: (Laughs) it has been 25 years and I haven’t had a break. Jokes apart, my international filming schedule becomes a break for me. It is the best thing if your work is your passion in life. It makes me feel like I’m always on break.

Maya: How was it working with Sidharth Malhotra?

Akshay: Sidharth is a very talented young man. He is very professional when it comes to work. Although he had no experience with MMA he did really well. He also went through 8 months of training.

Sidharth has a great future ahead of him. In Brothers he plays the character of a “man” unlike his earlier movies, where he’s mostly played young characters.

We had a great time on set. He’s a Punjabi, I am Punjabi and even our director Karan Malhotra is Punjabi! We spoke in Punjabi all the time to the degree the film should have been called Prah (Brothers in Punjabi).

Maya: Do you have some MMA tips or warnings for your fans out there?

Akshay: Mixed Martial Arts is wonderful to watch, it is very practical but dangerous at the same time. You have to be very careful when doing something like that. Watch and enjoy MMA, and if some people are thinking about doing it, they must be very careful and think about enrolling in training first, they must make a thoughtful decision before actually doing it.

Maya: There are lots of talks going on about the movie everywhere, you must have done an amazing job. In fact I was researching about the movie right before this interview and I found out that the movie is a remake of the movie Warrior by Gavin ‘O Connor and Cliff Dorfman, I believe you will put forward an amazing performance, maybe better than the original?

Akshay: Well that’s news to me but very humbling to hear. We have tried our level best to give the best performance we can. I wouldn’t really compare the two movies to be honest as we probably can’t make it better than the original, but we gave it all we could. Let’s see what the audience says.

Maya: What is your favourite genre of movies? You’ve done many different types of roles in different movies, which one is your favourite? Is it comedy, drama or action?

Akshay: I like comedy when it is mixed with action, it is just so much fun to do comedy with a bit of action, and it is fun to watch and also so much fun to do.

Maya: What are your next projects?

Akshay: My focus is on the release of Brothers. After that, I have Singh is Blinng coming out on the 2nd October and then Airlift in January 2016. In Singh is Blinng, I play a larger than life character, something I haven’t done in a couple of years since Rowdy Rathore. My films have been pretty serious with Gabbar, Baby and Special 24. I’m really excited about Airlift as it is a story about Saddam Hussein’s attack on Kuwait.

Maya: What is your hope for Brothers?

Akshay: I hope it brings in the mullah and gets the box office ringing while also gaining critical acclaim.

Maya: Your final message to your fans in New Zealand.

Akshay: I would just like to tell my fans how much it means to me to make a movie that they like. I really hope all my fans like Brothers. I would also like to tell them that the movie took about one whole year to make, we literally put our blood, sweat and tears into the making. The climax of the movie took about 52 days to shoot, just to get it perfect for the audience. All the fans across the globe should watch this movie on the big screen, watch it with your family and loved ones, do not watch pirated versions of it, we poured out our sweat and blood into this movie.