Monkeying around is a no - no for Akki

What do you expect when Akshay Kumar is in da house? Fun? Witty one - liners? But the star was not his usual chirpy self as he came to the Capital on Tuesday with the star cast - minus Lara Dutta - of the comedy film, Housefull.
To start with, Akshay scolded a young journalist when he asked him about a funny sequence with a monkey in Housefull. Akki took off, saying, "It's just a film, it has got nothing to do reality. Sajid (Khan) has just written a funny scene." That's not all. Akshay was terse in his reply to a question about his fat pay cheque. "Now, I have started producing my own films. So, there's no question of any fee cut now."

One wonders whether this lack of cheer is the effect of the six back-to-back flops that the actor churned out last year. But at least the wry one-liners were in place. "I did 8/10 Tasveer, but I didn't even get 4/2," he said.

Sajid, on his part claimed that the film would be the biggest blockbuster of 2010. "My film has already got 90-95 per cent advance booking in single screen halls. Plus, its songs are highest selling music as ring tones," said Sajid, who also added that the film was going to be "career-defining" for most of the cast members.

The Housefull ladies - Deepika Padukone and Jiah Khan - were largely quiet as the male cast members did most of the talking. Jiah, in her heavy accent, asserted that Deepika was absolutely gorgeous - and that there were no catfights on the sets. Lara meanwhile was absent due to a severe back ache.

Riteish Deshmukh and Arjun Rampal were on a mutual admiration spree. Riteish claimed that Arjun plays the toughest part because the comedy is happening around him; the National Award winner on his part said that life was easier with such talented co-stars around.

Sajid also announced that he has used antipiracy software, Republique, to ensure there are no illegal downloads of the film. "If anyone tries downloading it, not only will the files get corrupted but their IP address will pop up and they will be prosecuted," he said. Whether the film will be downloaded at all, remains to be seen.