Mumbai, Oct 7 : Bollywood's 'Khiladi' star Akshay Kumar sought the opinion of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about taking on a negative role in his upcoming film Haiwaan.

'I am doing a film where I play a negative character. I was wondering whether I should do it or not. The film is called Haiwaan, but in the end, I lose. The 'Haiwaan' loses,' Akshay said at the FICCI FRAMES 2025 event to the political leader.

To this, Fadnavis replied by saying: 'Yes, you should definitely do it. A versatile actor like you should explore all kinds of roles.'

Fadnavis stressed that, for an actor, true accomplishment means branching out into different roles.

He added: 'Ultimately, what is an accomplishment? Even in films where the villain loses, the character often leaves a bigger impact than the hero. That is creativity. But do continue doing more films as a hero as well.'

Explaining why he took a negative character, Akshay said: 'I felt like doing a negative role hence I am doing it. Mostly I play the hero in the film.'

Talking about 'Haiwaan', the film reunites Akshay with actor Saif Ali Khan after 17 years. Directed by Priyadarshan, the film serves as a remake of the 2016 Malayalam thriller Oppam, which was also helmed by the same filmmaker and starred Mohanlal. The cast of the upcoming film also includes Boman Irani and Shriya Pilgaonkar, with Rohan Shankar as the screenwriter.

Meanwhile, will also be seen in Priyadarshan's horror comedy 'Bhoot Bangla'. The horror drama is likely to release towards the end of 2025.

The film brings the iconic trio of Priyadarshan, Akshay and Paresh Rawal, back. Aside from Akshay and Paresh, the project will also see Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, Mithila Palkar, and Wamiqa Gabbi in crucial roles, along with others.

The Priyadarshan's directorial has been produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ektaa R Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms in collaboration with Akshay Kumar's production house, Cape of Good Films. The film is co-produced by Faara Sheikh and Vedant Baali.

The story of the movie has been written by Akash A Kaushik and the screenplay by Rohan Shankar, Abilash Nair, and Priyadarshan. The dialogues have been penned by Rohan Shankar.

"Bhooth Bangla" is slated for a theatrical release on April 2, 2026.

/IANS