Nimrat Kaur: I would love to spend more time in Lucknow

Actor Akshay Kumar was in Lucknow with co-star Nimrat Kaur on Monday evening, to promote the ongoing Premier Badminton League, of which he has been appointed the brand ambassador, and is also the owner of one the teams in the tournament.
GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAKE STRICT ACTION AGAINST TERRORISM
While in Lucknow, Akshay and Nimrat also took the opportunity to promote their upcoming film Airlift, which is based on a true story of the heroic evacuation of hundreds of Indians stuck in Kuwait during the Iraq-Kuwait war.And with both, Akshay and Nimrat's fathers having served in the army , the actors feel very strongly about the terrorist attack that took place in Pathankot on the intervening night of Saturday-Sunday , January 2-3, in which several army personnel, including an officer, lost their lives. ���It's a very sad thing that has happened,��� said Akshay , adding, ���We lost so many jawaans there.I'm sure the government is going to do something which is going to be a very strict action. They should! And I hope that they also do something about the families who've lost their loved ones. It's the most important thing. It was a quite an emotional moment for me when in the morning, in your newspaper only , I was reading one father's comment that `I'm happy that my son did so much good service to this country'. It needs a lot of courage to say so in such a situation where you've lost a young son. Main toh kehta hoon, we are just reel life heroes. These army personnel are the real life heroes. They put their own lives at so much risk just to keep us all safe day and night, relentlessly , away from their families and loved ones for months.My father was also in the army so I can relate to them in that way . And that's why probably I feel so strongly about our armed force personnel."
Akshay readily agreed for ���Airlift���
For Nimrat, it was talking of her own personal experience as she had lost her father fighting the terrorists in Kashmir years ago. ���It's a very difficult situation when you lose your loved ones to line of duty in the army and it's an eventuality that many families have to prepare themselves for,��� said she emotionally . ���It's something that nothing like that prepares you for when it actually happens. My heart goes out to the families right now. And I really, really hope and pray these kind of incidents just reduce and eventually don't happen in the coming times.���
It's very tragic to just lose such brilliant and bright officers and jawaans, to such tragic and saddening circumstances and also such meaningless circumstances,��� she further adds.
Ask them what they feel as celebrities should be done by the people, they themselves, and the government to bring to an end such situations and Akshay says, ���The government is doing their bit but yes, they need to take the peace initiative in a bigger way . They should be more aggressive in their approach. The way we can portray what may be done to solve this issue is through films and bringing it to people. We can just show the media, the people and the politicians how they can look up and solve such situations. And hamari ek yahi koshish hai in Airlift also, to show something that India did, which was so daring. So, that is the way we give to our country and that's how I do it. We have to take the bull by the horns and deal with it likewise.���
Nimrat on the other hand, taking a passionate stand on the issue said, ���I look at it as having some personal opinions on how it can be done much better. I feel that until I have a complete grip on the reality of the whole situation, and what we want to achieve and what is the obstruction in the way of the government in being able to achieve certain goals, it's very easy to sit in our homes and be armchair philosophers. We can also put out a petition and sign up for some protest and post our likes and dislikes and so on.But the ground reality is so different. Until and unless you are completely aware of what the ground level challenges are like, you can't really point fingers at anybody and say yeh aise karna chahiye hai. As for the forces, I will always be with them. I really want to put out that I really support the One Rank One Pension and I really hope that the government does something solid about this. Our armed force personnel's deserve it."
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NEED TO PROMOTE MORE SPORTS IN INDIA
The khiladi also spoke about the need for promoting other sports except cricket. ���We don't talk about any other sport in our country except cricket. We should talk about games like badminton,kabaddi, wrestling.I am here today to promote badminton and it's only through media that people are made aware of badminton. We want our youngsters to get into sports. And it is happening.
That's why we have been able to get these medals in the Olympics. We want you guys to highlight the importance, the glory of sports so that parents can encourage and most of all, let their children play games and indulge in sports activities. I have heard about why parents don't allow children to play other sports beside cricket because baki sports mein paisa nahi hai. But they should. Look at other sports men in our country . Look at other players, they are earning so much, around `60-70 lakhs per league, and that is a good amount of money . I think sports like football and kabaddi, badminton are being highlighted now in our country .And I am very happy that I am associated with this sports. Because it's fantastic sport. It's called bad-minton and not good-minton, because it's a mean game where the opponent is hitting the shuttle cock at the speed of 400 kmph. So it requires a lot of strength and grit to play this game. It's very aggressive. I played badminton as a kid and I love it. I believe what Saina (Nehwal) does is remarkable. She is a fantastic player and I really respect her."
Listen to songs of Akshay Kumar on Gaana.com
WANT TO SEE MORE OF LUCKNOW
While in Lucknow, it was obvious to ask Akshay about the city. ���I would love to see more of Lucknow,��� said he, adding, ���I have visited Lucknow several years ago very briefly and would love to see more of it.Main Lucknow sukoon se dekhna chahunga. Also, I believe UP has a good film policy , so I would want to explore the idea of making a film here too.���
And while Akshay was flamboyant and appeared larger than life, Nimrat chose to enjoy and share the spotlight with him. Having visited Lucknow a couple of times earlier, the actor was better versed with the city. ���It's a city of poetry and romantic charm and I would love to have more Lakhnawi food.Yahan jaisa khana aur kahin nahi milta, Mumbai mein bhi nahi. I have visited Lucknow a few times, and each time I have loved it. I too would love to spend some more time here,��� she said.
WATCH: AIRLIFT THEATRICAL TRAILER