He warded off customer complaints while serving as a chef in Thailand, battled Zen-like forces while undergoing martial arts training in India, even fended off fictional love in the shadows of the Hollywood Hills. Yet, if Akshay Kumar has anything to say about it – and, according to his blog-space, he apparently does – nothing quite prepared him for his most recent adventure of his career – battling the most peacefully violent element known to mankind.

On Friday, Kumar leads a star-studded cast in one of the most expensive – and definitely one of the most hyped – Bollywood films ever, as Blue prepares to (maybe) dazzle fans in India and around the world. Regardless of how the film turns out, Kumar emphatically proclaimed his preparation and work in Blue was the most dangerous of his nearly two-decade career.

“This experience has pushed just about everyone involved to their absolute limits — from the producer’s bank balance, to the director’s maximum efforts for his first baby — which just happens to be the most dangerous movie I’ve ever been a part of,” the Bollywood star said on his blog this week. “What I loved about shooting this film — other than the extreme stunts, the pressure and hardcore diving sessions with all those hungry sharks around — was the fact that I got to work with the most talented team I’ve ever come across.”

That talented cast includes debutant director Anthony D’Souza and film stars Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta, and Katrina Kaif; also joining the production was Kylie Minogue, who performed a song for the soundtrack.

Akshay Kumar

With a price-tag of about $17 million – astronomically high for Bollywood standards – Blue is actually considered the most expensive Indian film ever made; it was produced by Shree Ashtavinayak of Cine Vision, Ltd. The film, about an underwater treasure hunt, also included the work of Pete Zuccarini, an aquatic cinematography specialist who shot for the Pirates of the Carribean series; James Bomalick, who choreographed action sequences for the Indiana Jones franchise, also lent his services to the Blue production team.

With the help of the talented production crew, along with the star-studded cast, Kumar said on his blog that performing the stunts was quite the thrilling experience.

“I trained myself to be able to handle whatever these guys could throw at me. When there is an entire crew waiting for you to nail a shot, you do not want to go wrong,” he wrote. “I respected their time and effort, and they respected my attempt at being a human dolphin for them.”

The remaining question for Kumar is whether this film avoids the wrath of the critics, ergo separating it from other panned films the 42-year-old actor starred in, including Chandni Chowk To China, 8X10 Tasveer and Kambakkht Ishq.

“If this movie gets appreciated half as much as it deserves, I’d be a very happy man,” he wrote about expectations of success with Blue. “It has created a new Bollywood dimension, and no matter what the outcome may be, I take my hat off to everyone who made this movie.”