Why the year 2012 is crucial for Akki’s Bollywood journey…
I had planned this write-up right in the first weekend of release of Housefull 2. But it has taken almost 2 more weeks to publish it as the film took this time to clock perfect 100 @Indian Box office! In 17 days, Housefull 2 has taken Akshay in the league of stars with 100 Crores from Domestic box office. Though he is a late entrant to this elite club, its important he is there & its heartening that after long not just his performance, but even his film has been appreciated and trended very well over 3 weekends which has hardly been the case for him in last many years.
Akshay Kumar is one of the few self made stars who has come from humble middle class background with no Bollywood connections and captured the industry as one of the reigning superstars. But just like any filmi story, even his success has not been only a set of roses. He has seen too many ups and downs during his 2 decades in tinsel town. I still remember being in a single screen hall watching one of his movies in late 90’s with his 15 other loyal fans in the entire hall in its first week of release. The film bombed badly and was a part of the double digit of flops he had churned in continuity. When one looks back to that particular phase in his career, frankly not many could have predicted him to turn around his fate in this competitive industry with no God-father to promote. But this has become his habit now, to come back stronger once he touches the lows in his fairy tale Bollywood journey. He had started consolidating his position since the start of last decade with movies like Jaanwar & Sangharsh and with Hera Pheri he got the ticket to entertain the audience and use his comic timing to target the top band of stars he is a part of today.
Though he witnessed many successes in between, it was in 2007 his stock touched the roof with 4 back to back successes in the same year. It was Singh is King in subsequent year which positioned him in the top bracket as one of the most saleable stars in the fraternity. But after that, he somewhere seems to have lost the plot. The biggest problem for him since then has been that he is doing 3-4 movies a year unlike a Shah Rukh or Amir who have one/two releases in a year, thus making it difficult for him to maintain the quality of content which can sustain his box office pull. Initially he managed good initials and subsequently films fell but lately it started taking a toll on his initials also. He has suffered recently due to some poor content as well as flurry of releases without substantial gap. Akshay & Salman have been 2 superstars who believe in doing more films and giving their fans more opportunities of meeting them in cinemas in a year. But its important that these reasons are enjoyable and worth spending hard earned bucks!
But as they say, it is better late than never. With a Houseful start this year, he has marked his return amongst the numbers. But again, this was his safest venture this year with an established brand, successful production house-Director combo and host of other stars to support him. His real challenge lies ahead. His other releases this year include Suhirish Kunder directed sci-fi 3d “Joker” expected to be out in August. Going by the track record of the director, the genre of film and their last outing together (remember he wrote Tees Maar Khan :( ) this one is Akki’s weakest link this year according to analyst. It would be interesting to see if he can make this venture sail through! Then there is Milan Luthria directed sequel to the hit “Once Upon a time in Mumbai” where he would be literally donning the D company look. This one would be a venture which is expected to get him the most critical acclaim along with box office moolah to the producers. Then Khiladi 786 is also to take off.
However the biggest test for Khiladi this year will be in his next release, the Prabhu Deva directed “Rowdy Rathore” where he returns to action after a long time. As he himself confesses, the wave amongst the audience currently is for action films with right script, music and an overall entertainment package. He seems to have put in his learning’s from blockbusters of his contemporaries with this outing and it is very important for him to get this success formula replicated for him on the lines of a Dabangg, Ghajini, Bodyguard or the latest Agneepath. Though its first trailer along with the success of Houseful 2 have risen hopes from the movie touted to take massive initials, by June 3 (end of its first weekend), the fate of the film would be out for one and all. This is a perfect massy potboiler, which for Akki & his fans sake better doesn’t go wrong!
It is important for Akshay to get back amongst the numbers and consolidate his position this year and turn things around as it took him almost a decade of hard work to see a 2007!! Knowing age is not on the side of most of current top stars, it’s important for him to sustain this hard earned super stardom and give his fans more reasons to celebrate… We are sure, Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia will give us more memorable cinematic moments and entertain the masses to the hilt... did we hear "DON'T ANGRY ME"!! Rathore is coming :)
