When Akshay Kumar saved an IPL franchise by sacrificing a multi-crore contract

In India, cricket and the film industry have a very strong connection. While it is common for Bollywood celebrities to perform and participate in various cricket tournaments and inaugural functions, cricketers marrying Bollywood celebrities are also very common.

The IPL today is one of the biggest sports franchises in the world and superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Shilpa Shetty, and Preity Zinta have invested hugely in their respective teams.

But Akshay Kumar’s name has been rarely associated with any IPL team. However, in 2009, the Delhi franchise of IPL which then was called Delhi Daredevils and is now known by the name of Delhi Capitals decided to take Khiladi Kumar’s services as their brand ambassador.

A contract was signed between the franchise owner and the Bollywood superstar and according to that Akki was to appear for corporate and other official events and promote the franchise through video commercials.

It was the time when Delhi was struggling to win matches or even reach the semi-finals. So the revenue was not as per expectations making them difficult for them to pay Akshay the multi-crore fee according to the contract.

The fee of a celebrity or an actor is decided based on the performance of his movies and his overall brand value. In 2009, the superstar had already delivered some massive hits and also had a huge line-up of movies making him one of the most bankable stars of India.

In such circumstances, there was no chance of debating about reducing the fee. But for the Delhi franchise, if they continued with the contract, the franchise was doomed.

With Best Actor Akshay Kumar .. My Very 1st BIG Interview- 2008 I Guess .Delhi Daredevils launch... @akshaykumar pic.twitter.com/VU7qG8qN0c

— Ravi Pratap Dubey (@ravipratapdubey) December 23, 2015

It was a three-year contract with no exit and a guaranteed income earning set up for the superstar. That is why the then CEO Amrit Mathur who had brought Akshay on the board for the Delhi Daredevils IPL team decided to have a word with the actor. Narrating the incident, Mathur said that he met Akshay Kumar in his vanity van and made him abreast with the condition of the franchise.

Instead of objecting or even putting across his point, the OMG-2 actor simply said, “No problem ji. If it’s not working, let us close it.” Mathur was shocked and for a moment even felt that he had heard wrong but when Akshay Kumar saw him confused he said, “Issko khatam kar dete hai”. A stunned Mathur mumbled that the contract has a no-exit clause.

Akshay had a simple solution even for that. He said that he will talk with his lawyer and sort it out.