Akshay Kumar says the lens he wore for Bachchhan Paandey made him unable to see: ‘Would just see figure in front of me’

Actor Akshay Kumar has revealed the most difficult part of shooting for his recently released film, Bachchhan Paandey. In a media interaction, he said that the lens he had to wear in the film, to complete his character, made his vision blurry. He said that he shot for the film with just the silhouette visible in front of him. (Also read: Bachchhan Paandey review: Akshay barely saves a film riddled with cliches)

In the film, Akshay essays the role of a ruthless gangster Bachchhan Paandey. His co-stars Kriti Sanon and Arshad Warsi embark on a journey to make a film about the character. For his role, Akshay sported a rugged look with a stone eye. He used a white lens for the look.

Speaking to the media, Akshay said, as quoted by India Today, “Wearing the lens and then removing it was extremely difficult. Jaan nikal jaati thi (It was extremely painful) because I could not fix it in my eye myself. It was a very big lens. I would see everything blurry and that’s how I used to shoot. I would just see that there is a figure in front of me.”

When asked how long it took him to prepare himself for the look, Akshay said, “The first day it took about 15 minutes, but later it used to take me hardly 2-3 minutes. We decided on my look by doing a lot of photoshoots for three days and that’s when we zeroed in on this one.”

Bachchhan Paandey had a theatrical release on Friday. The film also features Jacqueline Fernandez, Pankaj Tripathi, Prateik Babbar, Sanjay Mishra, Abhimanyu Singh, Snehal Daabbi, and Saharsh Kumar Shukla. Directed by Farhad Samji, the action-comedy film Bachchhan Paandey is a remake of the Tamil film Jigarthanda that had released in 2014. The film has collected ₹25.25 crore at the box office within two days of its release. On day one it grossed ₹13.25 crore and on day two ₹12 crore.

The Hindustan Times review for the film read, “Despite the film’s story not being up to the mark, the pace of the narrative could have helped to some degree, but even there, it falters. The first half entices you with some twists and turns but the screenplay is so dragged in some places, that for a brief period, it becomes a snooze fest. Nonetheless, it’s the actors who keep the show going.”