Dubai-based chartered accountant makes his debut in film

Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyaan starring Taapsee Pannu, Abhishek Bachchan, and Vicky Kaushal is getting a lot of love from audiences. But did you know that a Dubai based chartered accountant is part of the movie as well? Akshay Arora plays Taapsee Pannu's uncle in the film. A school alumni meet ended up in landing Akshay a role in Manmarziyaan.
"Anurag and I were batchmates in Scindia school in Gwalior. We passed school in 1989. In 2014, we were celebrating 25 years of passing school and that's where we reconnected. In one of the events, he said that he would like to cast me in one of the movies. It was not taken seriously and time flew. In 2017, he was in Dubai and we were hosting him and we reminded him about his promise. He said that he had something in mind for his next film which will be shot in Amritsar. I went through a bit of audition. I am from Punjab and I play hockey and I guess that's why I fit in the film," said Akshay while talking to City Times.
Akshay who hosted a private screening of Manmarziyaan for his friends and family in Dubai added, "All my friends and family are very excited. It feels like it's a home production."
The 46-year-old Indian national has done a few short films in Dubai. He has been in the UAE for over 21 years, "I work in the shipping and logistics industry as a finance guy. I also paint and sketch."
He describes Taapsee as creative and logical, "Taapsee and Vicky are very talented and natural actors. They can improvise a lot on the sets whereas Abhishek is very respectful and a trained actor. He puts in a lot of effort to rehearse the scenes and to understand the situation and the emotions of the character."
He added that food was a big part of the movie, "Of course, we were shooting in Amritsar, so we all gorged on yummy local food. Working in this film was phenomenal, all fun and games but lots of hard work," he said.
 
Arti Dani 
arti@khaleejtimes.com