The movie is about the battle of sexes. Neither Kareena Kapoor nor I, in the movie, believe in love and are continuously trying to outdo the other. But eventually, I’m shown my place.

It’s a love story then?
It’s a love story about love — many of us may not use the term kambakht but we all have, at times, cursed love or have submitted ourselves to this emotion. We have all experienced these equations — falling in love, ditching someone, getting ditched. It’s how we all grow up in to understand relationships better.

After Tashan, it’s Kambakkht Ishq’s styling that’s being spoken about.
Much of style in the movie is the stylist Shabina Khan’s contribution. In fact, I’m not very stylish in personal life — I wear whatever I find comfortable, most of which is track pants or boxer shorts. I even travel in those — not boxer shorts, I mean. But I usually wear what my wife decides I should. If it weren’t for her, I’d be wearing yellow shoes, a red shirt or something like that.

While doing action sequences, is fear an alien emotion to you?
Not at all, I get scared too but the excitement of it supersedes my fear. Though I remember I got very scared when I had an accident while shooting for Blue in the Bahamas. I was fighting with 40 sharks in the scene when my head hit an iron rod and started bleeding. I could instantly see the sharks move faster but I was thankfully pulled out of water and on to a boat in 20 seconds.

Having grown up as Rajiv Bhatia and spent nearly two decades as Akshay Kumar, which name do you respond to more?
Most people know me as Akshay but my family still calls me Rajiv. I respond to both but I react to Rajiv faster since not many people call me that so whenever someone does, I look around to see who it is.

You always say you’re not part of the race to be numero uno and that there is no competition.
I can’t deny that there’s competition — many of my colleagues believe in competition and the media helps take it to the next level. But I maintain that I’m not in the race — four films, television show, ads, how much more can one do in one year?

Is insecurity as an actor at the root of the competition in the industry?
I guess so — the number one position can be quite a coveted title. I don’t see why else there’d be so much power struggle.

Have you ever felt insecure?
I’m insecure too but that does not make me compete. Because my insecurity is to get work next year or to get good work.

It’s about making and releasing movies and about my movies doing well. It’s the number one position that doesn’t matter.

You thoroughly enjoy commercial cinema but do you do movies for creative satisfaction as well?
I love commercial cinema and I think I’m very lucky to be one of the few people who have the power to entertain people and cut across generations. But I do, at times, do movies for my satisfaction, like I did 8X10 Tasveer — I think it was a great movie — and now Deepa Mehta’s Komagatta Maru.