2020 saw the closure of theatres due to the Covid pandemic. Hence, this was the year when moviegoers were treated with several films on digital. While some failed to entice, a few of them stood out. A film that comes in the latter category for many moviegoers is AK vs AK. Starring Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap, it was a meta movie where both played exaggerated versions of themselves. The audience gave it a thumbs up for its unusual storyline. The performances were also appreciated, of both Anil and Anurag. Hence, it will be a surprise for readers to know that before Anil Kapoor came on board, Aamir Khan and even Akshay Kumar were considered to play the actor’s part in AK vs AK.
In a long interview with Mid-Day’s editor Mayank Shekhar, Vikramaditya Motwane, director of AK vs AK revealed fascinating trivia. He said the writer Avinash Sampath wrote the film keeping Aamir Khan in mind. When Vikramaditya came on board, he asked him to drop the idea as he felt that Aamir will never sign such a film.
Then, Vikramaditya Motwane and Avinash Sampath approached Akshay Kumar, since like Aamir Khan, he also has the initials, AK. Interestingly, Vikramaditya, at this point, revealed that Akshay almost threw them out of his office after he heard the film’s idea! Vikramaditya said, “There is Akshay Kumar, who we did approach, and it was a very interesting meeting — I mean, he didn’t sort of outrightly say, ‘Get out of my office,’ but it was close enough!”
Later, they approached Shahid Kapoor and this is when reports emerged that the film is titled AK vs SK. It didn’t work out and finally Anil Kapoor was signed. Vikramaditya stated, “For a while, I was making it with Shahid [Kapoor], which kind of happened, and then it didn’t. The [actor] AKs kept changing. The [director] AK, that is Anurag Kashyap, was a constant. He’s a fantastic actor.”
He further spoke highly of Anurag’s acting talent, “I think he is fab. In fact, everybody on the AK set was talking about Anil Kapoor. I think Anurag, especially in the last scene, is incredible. You actually tear up when shit happens to him.”
AK vs AK is the story of an actor and filmmaker who indulge in a public fight. The director gets shunned, as a result, and to get back, he kidnaps the actor’s daughter, who’s also an actor, and films the actor as he goes about to save her child. It was released directly on Netflix on December 24, 2020
