When ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ released in 2022, Akshay Kumar’s portrayal of the legendary king sparked debate especially over the artificial mustache he wore. After years of silence, the actor has now spoken about the matter during a conversation on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube podcast. He explained that the choice was not due to negligence, “See, I’m working on lots of things, lots of films, and lots of looks. Like right now, I have this beard. I took around six weeks to grow it, and during those six weeks, I didn’t work. So it’s not like that.” He explained his dilemma, “In ‘Samrat Prithviraj’, the story required a particular kind of mustache, and that kind of mustache cannot grow naturally on my face. So yes, maybe the fake mustache didn’t look good, maybe a lot of people didn’t like it. But at the end of the day, it’s acting. Growing that exact mustache might not be possible for me. But sometimes you have to do it. And if people didn’t like it, then I am sorry.” The film, released on June 3, 2022, featured Manushi Chhillar, Sanjay Dutt and Sonu Sood alongside Akshay, bringing to screen the saga of the warrior king.
