Actor's mother convinces him to give up meat products till he finishes shooting for his next film where he plays God

As part of his preparations to play God in an upcoming film, Akshay Kumar has decided to be a strict vegetarian. This is being done at the behest of his mother Aruna Bhatia who feels this is the only way he can do complete justice to his character.

Says a unit source, "His mother is a devout follower of Lord Krishna. She feels he should follow the principles taught by the Lord that includes a vegetarian diet."

Adds the source, "Normally his mother keeps away from his Bollywood matters. But when Akshay told her about the film and his character, she requested him to stick to greens only. Being a doting son, this was one request Akshay was more than happy to accede to."

His mom has also told him to continue with his veg diet till he completes shooting for the film. As she never interferes in his film production stuff, the star is taking his mom's suggestion seriously and is keen to follow it with full dedication.

Akshay also feels this is one of his most challenging roles. The audience has seen him in varied roles for decades but this he feels has a divine intervention, as he will be seen as God!

The film, which Akshay is also producing along with a former channel head Ashwini Yardi, is based on his buddy Paresh Rawal's play Kishen Vs Kanhaiyal.

It tells the story of an atheist and his encounter with God and religion.