MUMBAI: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar took to his turban, kirpan (dagger) and beard in Singh Is King with unconditional gusto, but director Anees Bazmi couldn’t convince seasoned actor Om Puri, who plays a sardar in the movie, to sport a beard.

“That’s true,” admits Om. “But I had a very valid reason for saying no to the beard. My face is allergic to beards. I get rashes from facial hair. So I played the sardar in Singh Is King with all the other requirements except the beard,” Om Puri, who plays Akshay’s friend in the movie, said. However, for Jagmohan Mundhra’s Shoot On Sight, Om had no choice but to sport a beard. “It’s the role of a fundamentalist maulvi, a very powerful part with dramatic speeches, and I couldn’t play a maulvi without a beard. But my face went through hell,” he said.