Akshay Kumar has been in the industry for more than three decades. While he's one of the biggest stars in the business today, he's seen his own share of rough times. He's had a phase where he saw back-to-back flops in a row.

In a recent interview, producer Suneel Darshan has recalled one such phase. Darshan said he cast Akshay in 'Jaanwar' when he was going through a dull phase in his career.Speaking with Minutes of Masala, Darshan recounted how the role in Jaanwar first came to Akshay almost by chance. “I first offered Jaanwar to Sunny Deol, but he told me the script needs more work. I thought, ‘This man is lying’,” he shared. “Then, Ajay Devgn showed interest. But he was already a big star and very busy.

The next day, Akshay called me and asked to meet. I invited him over, and it was the first time we’d formally met. He had a great reputation, and I remember thinking that he was very handsome. During that meeting, I decided to go with him for Jaanwar.”He added further, "The one drawback was that he had delivered several flops. From both the audience’s and industry’s perspective, he was… well, let’s say his image wasn’t great.

Many of his projects had stalled midway. He wasn’t doing anything substantial at the time and was completely available. He promised to give me 100%, and I was determined to extract 200% from him.”

Suneel recalled how Akshay had requested him. He said, "Akshay once held my hand and said, ‘Please promise you’ll do 100 films with me.’ I remember thinking, ‘This must be how he proposes to women.’ We worked together closely for seven years, making seven films.

I look back at those times with a lot of fondness—even though things didn’t end on a very pleasant note.”In hindsight, Suneel feels Akshay's surrounding corrupted him. He said, "When actors become more successful, a kind of ‘corruption’ tends to creep in. They stop communicating directly and begin interacting only through their teams and managers." He considers this as the reason for his fall-out with the actor eventually as he said that things didn't go well.