If there’s one actor of the runner Bollywood hit Toilet-Ek Prem Katha who’s more surprised than Akshay Kumar by its thumping success at the box office, then that is the veteran character artiste Anupam Kher.

Kher, who played actress Bhumi Pednekar’s grandfather in the Independence Day release, has made 20 films with Akshay starting with Deedar in 1992. And these include some super hits such as Baby, Special 26 and now Toilet-Ek Prem Katha. But he admits that much as he knows the Khiladi, he wasn’t able to see the resounding success their last outing would turn out to be.

“I didn't expect TEPK to be Akshay's highest grosses,” Kher admits. “I think even he didn't expect that. But we all are happy that a small film with a strong message managed to win the hearts of the audience.”

Toilet-Ek Prem Katha beat Akshay’s earlier big grosser Rowdy Rathore of 2012 (Rs. 133.25 crore) when it reached Rs. 133.60 crore. It is still running and is expected to soar to even greater heights. This was Akshay’s second hit of 2017 after Jolly LLB that also did good business.

Kher, whose own milestones include his vast volume of work in over 400 films, feels that today’s audiences have changed; they no longer watch films for A-listers. “The story is very important these days, people are no fools, and films with good stories do wonderfully well at the box-office," Kher says, adding, “Yes, stars do get their dues for the film but they (actors) also want to work in films which people can relate to. Today content is the real king." For which, Kher says, more films like Jolly LLB, Subh Mangal Savaadhan, and Toilet-Ek Prem Katha need to be made and also to do well at the box-office. “This, in turn, will help directors to work on more content-driven films,” the veteran actor says, explaining the cycle.