Paresh Rawal said Akshay Kumar is just a colleague to him, not a friend. "In the film industry, people are colleagues, in theatre they are friends, and in school, they are heart-to-heart friends," he added. Paresh further said, "The ones I consider friends—whom I can respectfully call friends—were Om Puri sahab, Naseer bhai (Naseeruddin Shah), and Johny Lever."