Akshay Oberoi, who made his debut as a child actor in 2002 with American Chai, is now making headlines with Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups. While the film continues to dominate headlines, Oberoi is also gearing up for projects with Manoj Bajpayee and Jackie Shroff and will be seen in the popular Aashram series. He recently spoke to SCREEN about his latest release, upcoming projects and his three-decade-long journey as an actor. At 40, Oberoi is also looking to venture into writing, taking inspiration from Yash, who, according to him, curates and creates his own content.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

How does it feel to be part of Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups?

The box office numbers are so astronomical. I have never heard of numbers like this, especially not for the films that I do. Fighter was a big film, but that’s only one of all my films. It is amazing to have this kind of response from the audience, which is so eager and anxious to see what we made. Even before the release, there was so much awareness about the movie.

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Now it is up to the audience, how they want to receive it. It will always have its own place in my heart. I will always view it separately from the result or the box office. I am immensely proud of the film and grateful for the opportunity. It has changed the way I see things.

Do you pay attention to box office numbers after a film’s release?

You give attention to everything, but how much attention you give to it is the only difference. Let’s see how the film keeps performing. Largely, it’s for the public to debate now. We have given our best. I think we made this beautiful spectacle—something that Indians across the world should be proud of. It’s bold cinema. The film is being watched in such large numbers that there are so many commentaries around it.

You often say that one project leads you to another. What’s the backstory behind some of your upcoming projects?

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Unfortunately, we don’t always know the backstory of every project we get. I am a huge fan of Manoj Bajpayee and Neeraj Pandey. They are two of my big heroes. I have been meeting Neeraj Pandey and trying to work with him for ages. Now, he finally gave me a chance. Neeraj Pandey expressed his desire to cast me in the film to the writer Ritesh Shah. He said, “Gurgaon dekh le. Tu samajh jayega.” Gurgaon led me to Fighter. Gurgaon has become a very instrumental film in my life.

I was heartbroken due to its lack of a good release. But nearly a decade later, I always knew that this film was going to be something special. It has grown its audience. People introduce me with Gurgaon in my credits along with Fighter. One film was made for Rs 3.5 crore, while the other was a big-budget film, but both are mentioned in the same line when people introduce me. I was taken aback and thought, “Wow.” That film has been very instrumental in my career.

How do you differentiate success from struggle?

The story that people know of you only starts after your success. Behind that success, nobody is aware of the things that have gone into it. You will know, your wife will know and a couple of your friends will know. There is so much hard work that has gone into reaching this point. The hard work only happens when you love what you do. You are only able to be that crazy and chase it. It’s a very crazy profession. You have to almost be a crack in the head to survive all these years. But I get to do what I love to do. It gives me a lot of pain, but also joy. So I will take the pain and the punches.

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Did you ever break down when things were not working as per your expectations?

I never came to a point where I wanted to give up. I guess there are two reasons for that. One is that I was always employed. Even if people were not watching my work or it got a bad release, every year I have been working ever since I started my career, except during COVID. To be employed as an actor is the hardest job, so I had that.

Secondly, I always believed that I would arrive one day. Right now, I don’t think I have fully arrived, but I know I will eventually. I always knew I was meant for this work. Maybe the universe has planned the journey to be long for me, but I will get where I want to get. I never said these things out loud, but now I have started to.

In your struggling days, you did MTV Rush. Doing television or coming from a TV background is often looked down upon. Have we now become more inclusive, or are we still stuck at the same spot?

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Unfortunately, we still discriminate against actors on the basis of their TV or film background. But it is important for the artist himself not to be caught up in that. Leave that to people. Let them dissect and tag you. My TV experience was completely different, so I wasn’t discriminated against there. But I experienced that discrimination when I joined web series.

People would be like, “Why are you doing web series?” I was one of the first people to start doing web series, before film stars entered. But these dissections are the jobs of the media, casting directors and other people who think this way, not the actor. An actor has to keep working because whatever opportunities you are being handed, you need to keep working.

Once Pankaj Tripathi told me, “If you ever receive a small role, you act so well and make it so big that the small role becomes a key role.” And I agreed with him because we are not all being offered big roles. It’s not like Karan Johar is standing at my doorstep, offering me a lead role. So we need to take up whatever comes our way and make the best out of it. These things will lead you to the next thing.

I am not good at networking, but I am genuine and honest; I am sincere. If I really like someone’s work, I will be more than happy to go to their office and request work. But I can’t go to a party and butter people up. I always knew that I needed to be sincere in my work and that the work would lead me to more and more work. That has been my journey. That’s how I approach work.

What is your dream project?

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I want to work with Shanker Raman again—the maker of Gurgaon. This time, I also want to write something. We are working on something. I don’t know how long that will take for us. We are still in the writing and ideation process. I want to be part of the film from the ground up—curate the film and be involved in the creation of the project.

Working with Yash on Toxic inspired me. I was like, “Look at him, he curates his own content. He understands screenplay and writing.” Watching him, I thought I need to open up my mind to that. Doing that, I will be able to position myself where I am in control of my destiny, in a place where you can’t always be in control of your destiny.