Khiladi Kumar is a phenomenon but he too couldn’t weather the jinx of the pandemic. Sumita Chakraborty finds out whether Akshay Kumar can bounce back or be knocked down permanently by his colossal failures?

With Bachchan Pandey performing rather poorly at the box office – it didn’t even make 50 crores in seven days –proving to be a mega dud and a big blot on Khiladi Kumar’s record, Akshay Kumar who was known as the man with the Midas touch, suddenly found himself jolted and dropped right down the ladder. “‘Kashmir Files’ box office success Bachchan Pandey ko duba diya,” Akshay claimed ruefully. 

True… but this film was one of the many Akshay Kumar starrers that spiralled uncontrollably downhill at the Box office. In fact, after Laxmmi, Bell Bottom and Atrangi Re, Bachchan Pandey too sunk its way into the depths of oblivion.  Was that the last nail on the Khiladi’s coffin?

Changing Times

True, thanks to the lockdown, things have drastically changed. Bollywood’s unwritten rules and laws have all been turned 360 degrees around.  Gone are the days when mega stars were the magnetic pull for the Box office. Thanks to the OTT, the audience now craved for good content and good films. All the Badshahs, Sultans and so many titular so-called superstars bit the dust – affected worst amongst them were namely Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Kartik Aryan to now Akshay Kumar who was earlier dubbed as the Khiladi of the Box office by critics and viewers. In fact, he was the actor who could do no wrong – the Box office danced to his tune for many years. And, how!

Akshay avers in an interview, “I have seen many bad films do well. Many bad films of mine have done well. A lot of times people around you tell you that a film is good, but it still does not do well. So kisi ka baap bhee nahin keh sakta if a film can be a hit or a flop. There are times that people watch a film and tell me that it will get a big opening of 30 crores and then it fails. I have been called a dependable and a bankable star, but these are all hearsay. No one can predict the future of any film.”

Experimenting With Content

True. In fact, everybody still remembers Akshay Kumar’s ‘Khiladi’ series which were mega hits and though they were very entertaining, the storyline were wafer thin but they still did extremely well at the Box office. However, after a spree of action films, Akshay Kumar perhaps at the behest of his wife Twinkle Khanna, started paying attention to good content and good movies. Pad Man was born under Akshay’s banner and it went onto do very well. And that gave Akshay the ‘taste’ for “good content” and he tried to do something different in the film Laxmmi where he played a transgender but that failed big time at the box office. Bell Bottom shot in a bubble during the pandemic in Scotland, garnered a lot of rave reviews when its trailer was launched. The film depicted a true story in which Akshay Kumar played a spy. That unfortunately didn’t do too well with the audience.  Of course, that was in the midst of the pandemic when theatres according to government restrictions opened up to just 50 percent. So Bell Botton was also dropped on an OTT platform. That affected the film and it went on to become a flop. 

The Kashmir Files & RRR On Slaughter

This time ‘round too, everybody was waiting for ‘Bachchan Pandey’ – the trailer looked very interesting and the Kriti Sanon and Akshay Kumar pair looked fresh. But this was at a time when the audience rushed to watch in hordes Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’, a film on atrocities on Kashmir Pandits – and Bachchan Pandey , the Akshay Kumar film reeled in recoil andfailed to fire up the box office. Perhaps if it hadn’t been for ‘The Kashmir files’, Bachchan Pandey would have done at least 25 to 30 percent better because people who watched the film felt it was a ‘paisa vasool’ entertainer but it still failed to bring the audience to the theatres. Khiladi Kumar’s magic just didn’t work. And of course, the release of RRR hammered the last nailinto the coffin.

Is The End Near?

So is Akshay Kumar’s career over?  Did the golden luck of Khiladi Kumar turn into a jinx, making him a Bollywood flop?  Akshay doesn’t think so. He avers that success is temporary. In an interview, he said, “I have seen many stars fall. Every Friday a new star will fall. I have seen questions from the media change every Friday. Around 8-9 years ago I had a lot of films that flopped and I was asked why so many of my films were flopping. These words change according to the season and I accept that. Everyone has to make place for others to come in, and move out when the time is right.” More so, as he stresses that there is no formula for success. It’s all about luck, he adds.  “I have seen around 14 to 16 films of my films flop one after the other. One has to just concentrate and keep on working. Everyone has ups and downs, some have a longer night and some have a shorter one. But then there will be daybreak.”

Quantity Over Quality

Perhaps this ‘belief’ has always put Akshay in a breakneck speed for he keeps signing many films at once, churning out movie after movie without a break. Ask him that, and he flashes his gummy smile, says, “What am I supposed to do? I cannot sit at home.”

In fact, this has also made him a target of ‘net funnies’  – the memes. But that doesn’t bother Akshay – he takes flops and the memes in his stride.

So for now, Akshay has a lot of films under his belt which includes Cindrella where he plays a psychopath. Plus, he will be part of a two hero project, co-starring Tiger Shroff  in a film called Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan. Besides this, he has Raksha Bandhan, Selfie and Prithviraj too.

Not Just Yet, My Dear!

Perhaps it’s too soon to call Akshay a flop star or a ‘has-been’… that man may have belted a few flops but he has done that before too, and like the phoenix, he has risen from the dead to resurface as the Khiladi of the Box office. He has done it before, he can do it now too. In fact, by sheer hard-work and his optimistic way of strategizing, the 53-year-old Akshay Kumar for all you know, can bounce back again, and take back his claim on the Box office. We will wait ‘n’ watch!

Break 1: “‘Kashmir Files’ box office success Bachchan Pandey ko duba diya.” –

Break 2: “No one can predict the future of any film.”

Break 3: “I have been called a dependable and a bankable star, but these are all hearsay. No one can predict the future of any film.”

Break 4: “I have seen around 14 to 16 films of my films flop one after the other. One has to just concentrate and keep on working.”

Break 5:  That man may have belted a few flops but he has done that before too, and like the phoenix, he has risen from the dead to resurface as the Khiladi of the Box office.