MUMBAI: Having gone through a great year with three top-ranking comedies, Namastey London, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Akshay Kumar is gearing up for the release of Welcome directed by Anees Bazmi, which is his next big laugh-out-loud comedy. The film is being released worldwide on 20 December.

Welcome, being touted as the biggest release of Eid and Christmas, marks the return of the Akshay-Katrina pairing for a third time, besides the ensemble cast comprising Paresh Rawal, Anil Kapoor, Feroz Khan, Nana Patekar and Mallika Sherawat.

Akshay, who is shooting for Singh Is King in Australia at present, says, “Earlier, everyone said I was synonymous with action. I bagged the Khiladi tag. Now with my last few films being successful comedies, I’ve become synonymous with comedy!”

When queried on his hit run at the box-office this year, he says, “I’m happy that the three comedies I did this year had the box-office laughing. Welcome is the king of them all! It’s a laugh-riot from the word go and I hope everyone enjoys it during the festive season as it is my last major comedy of 2007.”

So is Akshay bidding adieu to comedy? “Not at all! Comedy comes as naturally to me as action. Next year I have a variety of films on the anvil. I am getting back to action with Nikhil Advani’s film and Yash Raj Films’ Tashan. But for my now I want everyone to concentrate on Welcome and welcome the new year with a bang,” he signs off.