Casting director Mukesh Chhabra has opened up about his equation with actor Akshay Kumar. Speaking to Ranveer Allahbadia, Mukesh Chhabra recalled the time when his mother, Kamal Chhabra, was suffering from heart-related issues and Akshay Kumar extended a helping hand. Mukesh Chhabra added that filmmaker Anand L Rai informed him that the doctor he needed to contact knew Akshay Kumar. “So, I sent Akshay Kumar a message and he immediately called. He arranged everything in that hospital, he called me almost every day, continuously for 15 days. He would ask, 'How is your mother doing? How are you?' He also spoke to the doctor continuously. He doesn't talk about it; I never spoke about it either," added the casting director.
Mukesh Chhabra continued, “Despite being so busy, he would ask every morning, ‘Mummy da ki haal hai? [How is mummy now?]' I can't forget that at all. He even met my mother. It is not even that we are regularly in touch because you take this step to help someone when you know them at a personal level but still, he did that. We started talking after that, but I can't forget that moment.”
Mukesh Chhabra's mother died in April last year. The casting director wrote a moving note for her on Instagram. It read, “Good bye, maa. The last words my mother said to me before she left us forever was 'I love you'. These were probably her first words to me too. I woke up this morning looking for her until I realised the reality of things. How I wish you were still here Maa, I hope you're living the best life wherever you are, happy, safe, content and eating the sweetest things that you liked so much. You've always been the main and only woman in my life. And you've left me here alone now without your presence. I know you were really fighting and trying to get better for us. Everything you always did was for us. Mumbai City, our home and my life is never going to be the same without you. And I really want to say this to you kuch galti hui ho toh mujhe maaj kar dena. I love you too. keep smiling.”
Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar's Khel Khel Mein was released on August 15. It clashed at the box office with Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor's horror-comedy Stree 2, and John Abraham and Sharvari Wagh's Vedaa.
