Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; February 12, 2014)

A number of factors make Holiday — A Soldier Is Never Off Duty exciting. It’s a collaboration between Akshay Kumar and Vipul A Shah, who have given hits like Aankhen, Waqt — The Race Against Time, Namastey London and Singh Is Kinng. Then, it’s helmed by A R Murugadoss, who pioneered the 100-crore club with his first Hindi film, Ghajini. Now, the trade is curious to see his second outing. Not to forget the pairing of Akshay and Sonakshi, who have given a success like Rowdy Rathore.

All eyes are on Holiday... because it has an engaging story revolving around an army captain — played by Akshay — some high-end action, romance and a good soundtrack by Pritam.

 Vipul, who is the producer of the film, says, “In every person’s life, some special films happen. I’m lucky that I got so many special films with Akshay in the last 10 years. There are huge expectations from the team. We’re looking forward to it ourselves.” For now, they are awaiting the reactions to the trailer, which goes online today at 2.30 pm.

 Akshay says, “To work alongside my long-time friend Vipul after so many extraordinary films together, on a project that is helmed by Murugadoss, is of course something I couldn’t wait to get my hands on.”

He adds, “It’s great to see the magic my director creates with professionals like our director of photography Nutty, (Nataraja Subramaniam), our heroine Sonakshi and the rest of our talented crew. It’s also the first time I’m playing a DIA (Defence Intelligence Agent), a role I’ve enjoyed portraying more than I ever imagined.”

 Murugadoss says, “I was a little reserved initially, but Akshay made me feel very comfortable. Now, I can say that I’ve got a close friend in the Hindi film industry. Being a filmmaker, Vipul sir lends his directors great support, like in this case, me.”

 Sanjeev Lamba, CEO, Reliance Entertainment, the co-producers of the project, says, “This is a high-octane action thriller. I hope fans enjoy a spectacular summer when the film opens globally.”

The last word is reserved for Akshay, who signs off, saying, “The next time someone asks me what I’d have done if I weren’t an actor, I’d say that being a DIA is on the top of my list.”

Holiday — A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, presented by Reliance Entertainment, releases June 6.