Akshay Kumar was the star of early 2000s. But before success struck, he had a rather dull phase in late 90s. Filmmaker Suneel Darshan reveals why several filmmakers were pulling out from betting their money on the actor,

Suneel Darshan said that films like Dhadkan and Hera Pheri were halted midway because the industry was losing faith in Akshay Kumar.

Producer-director Suneel Darshan opened up on Akshay Kumar's lean phase when he had a string of flops. His films were being stopped and distributors didn't want to touch them. But Darshan cast the actor in many of his movies that time as he saw something special in him.

Director Suneel Darshan, who worked with Akshay Kumar in Dhadkan and other films, recalled the actor going through a tough phase in his career. In an interview recently, he revealed that a producer once insulted Akshay so much that he was almost on the verge of breaking down.

In an interview with Friday Talkies, Suneel Darshan has claimed that the reason Akshay exited the film was because of his rumoured closeness with Priyanka Chopra that had an adverse effect on his marriage with Twinkle Khanna.