The Akshay Kumar You Don't Know

The mood shifted the moment someone said, 'Akshay sir is outside.'
And there he was, not in a tailored suit under dramatic lighting, but in casual, loose-fitting shirt and track pants, and sneakers, smiling like a college kid.
Mayur Sanap reports from the Wheel Of Fortune set.

If you have ever tuned in to Wheel of Fortune on television, you have seen Akshay Kumar channelling in his usual fun and bindaas avatar. He is jumping across the stage, breaking into impromptu dance steps, cracking jokes with contestants, and then also offering heartfelt moral support when it's needed.

It is a total burst of chaos, laughter, and fun for a reality game show.

But what if I told you that the magic behind the scenes is even more entertaining?

As a journalist, it's par for the course to see celebrities up close. Be it press conferences, promotional junkets, or launch events, these interactions are routine for media peeps.

What is rare these days, however, is being invited into the very ecosystem where this magic is manufactured. Visiting a live set is like peeking behind the curtain of a grand illusion. This visit on the sets of Wheel of Fortune felt special precisely because of that.

The magic behind Wheel of Fortune

The day began with a drive to Film City, Mumbai's famous hotspot for all things entertainment.

Tucked away from the city's chaos in the green spaces of Goregaon, in the northwest part of the city, this is the place where the dreams of scripts turn into reality.

As you enter the compound, you see buses ferrying people around to Film City tour as a part of their Mumbai Darshan trip.

There are stretches of barren land in dusty pathways, with intermittent clusters of studios standing shoulder to shoulder, each one flaunting massive posters of television shows that are being filmed inside.

As communicated to us beforehand, we were headed to Frames Studios where Wheel of Fortune was being shot.

It was early afternoon when I arrived, and most crews were on lunch break. The buzz of generators hummed in the background while spot boys ferried steel tiffins across corridors.

One thing that struck me, and not pleasantly, was the quiet segregation.

I noticed that crew members were gathered in one corner under shade with their packed meals, while audience members were directed elsewhere, and contestants had a designated dining space in a separate vanity van.

For media folks, a dining space with swanky lunch arrangement was carved out under a massive makeshift room.

The star of the show, of course, had a separate island of privacy with multiple vanity vans parked within the vicinity.

It caught me off guard to see that the creative industry, for all its glitz, still carries such invisible hierarchies.

Akshay Kumar's superstar energy

The mood shifted the moment someone said, 'Akshay sir is outside.'

And there he was, not in a tailored suit under dramatic lighting, but in casual, loose-fitting shirt and track pants, and sneakers, smiling like a college kid.

I quickly turned my camera towards him, but was politely asked to not take any pictures. Fair enough, I said.

This was the second half of the day and I was told that Akshay has already shot one episode by then.

Someone casually mentioned that he shoots two episodes a day. Two! The physical and mental stamina required suddenly made sense.

He was playing volleyball with members of his team in an open patch behind the studio. Watching him dive for the ball and then tease a crew member for missing a shot felt surreal. There was no security drama, no starry vibes.

This was the same man who, minutes later, would stride onto the set radiating superstar energy.

When the crew call announced that lunch break was over, the transformation began.

The audience was ushered in, along with 'special guests' from the media fraternity. We were instructed to seal our phones and they were tucked away in a small room.

Inside the studio, the set looked both grander and smaller than it appears on television. Light rigs were adjusted, cables checked, floor managers positioned themselves like chess pieces.

A unit member directed us to our seats. Another one appeared who, in a rather stern voice on mic, coached on when to clap louder, when to gasp, when to cheer like a well-orchestrated gameplay. We were told that 'Sir' will make a special entry for this episode.

Then Akshay walked in all his style and swag. No wait, he danced his way on to the stage to the tune of Jab Bhi Koi Haseena from Hera Pheri.

He was joined by a glamorous lady who, at first glance, I had to double-check was not Elnaaz Norouzi, his co-host from the first few episodes. She was noticeably absent this time.

There the casual volleyball energy vanished. In his place stood the charismatic host. Akshay's namashkar lifted the energy in the room by several notches. He greeted the audience warmly, cracked a quick joke about someone sitting too seriously in the front row, and immediately set the tone.

Interestingly, there was no cue of 'Light. Camera. Action' to start the scene. It just began.

Each episode of Wheel of Fortune typically features three contestants competing against one another. They solve word puzzles by guessing letters in a hidden phrase. It follows the format of hit-n-miss where the contestants earn the opportunity to spin a large wheel to win prize money and other rewards.

The three contestants for this episode, one girl and two boys, took the stage with bright smiles. One guy was an eye specialist, another was a content creator, and the lady hailed from the IT industry. They looked thrilled and radiated fanboy energy around Akshay.

The controlled chaos on Wheel of Fortune sets

What fascinated me most was the rhythm of shooting. From makeup artists frantically but carefully dabbing 'touch-ups' to assistant directors timing cues down to seconds, it was a ballet of controlled chaos.

There are retakes when a contestant or audience member stumbles over a word. There are pauses while the crew recalibrates lighting.

Akshay was reading out his lines from a teleprompter, but would also often improvise an entire mini stand-up routine to ease up the energy on sets. He would quietly encourage a nervous participant, and also crack a joke with their family members who were present as audience members.

The episode wrapped up and with that the final applause arrived.

Akshay turned to audience members for a brief conversation and then posed for pictures with the families of contestants. He then disappeared into his vanity van before probably heading to his next commitment.

Television often feels like a polished, distant spectacle. But standing there, watching the sweat, teamwork, improvisation, and genuine camaraderie, I realised that what we see on screen is only half the story.

The next time I watch the wheel spin on Wheel Of Fortune, I won't just see a game. I will see the volleyball match behind the studio, the lunch corners, the crew sprinting with cables, and a superstar who can switch from playful teammate to magnetic host in seconds.

As they say, the magic really lies in the process. That's the real fortune I took home that day.