and Akshay Kumar collaborated for the first time in Brothers and are now working together in period war drama Kesari. On a personal level the two share great camaradrie thanks to the common thread in Twinkle Khanna, who's Akshay's wife and Karan's friend. Even though they share great raport and the two are even working with each other as actor and producer, Akshay still feels that when it comes to direction, it is Shah Rukh Khan who'll be Karan's top choice and not him. Also read: Shah Rukh talks to Salman about Rs 300 crore films and takes a dig at his own dismal box office performance
He made it quite clear when during the Filmfare Awards 2018, Akshay was asked by Karan to imagine the scenario if Pad Man was Karan Johar film. Akshay was quick to quip,
Agar Pad Man aapne direct ki hoti usmein main nahin Shah Rukh Khan hota.
(If you had directed Pad Man then not me but Shah Rukh would've been in the film.)
His response left everyone in splits. Earlier Karan had also asked him about what if he had directed Toilet - Ek Prem Katha. Akshay said,
Agar Karan saab yeh picture direct karte toh mujhe lagta hai toilet paper ki jagah chiffon sariyan hoti. Aur fir a man who's shitting there will be twenty dancers behind dancing. Aur fir iski shooting Kanpur mein nahin hoti cannes mein hoti aur unki toilet ke upar kahaani banti.
(If Karan had directed this film then I think instead of toilet papers there would've been chiffon sarees. And if a man was taking a dump there would've been twenty dancers dancing behind him. And instead of Kanpur film would've been shot in Cannes and the story would've been about their toilets.)
Expectedly, Karan Johar was dumbfounded by Akshay's quips. Check out the video here at 01:32:36. Also read: Karan Johar dressed up for paparazzi before landing in Mumbai. The 'worst thing' followed
On the work front, Akshay Kumar and Karan Johar have collaborated on Kesari, which is based on the battle of Saragarhi and will release on Holi 2019.