TV & Film

Dear Akshay, don’t blame others for your failures

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar blames the audience for his films' inability to do well at the box office

Dear Akshay, don’t blame others for your failures

Akshay Kumar's latest flick failed to bring the audience back into the theatres.

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The failure of Akshay Kumar's Sarfira kicks off the debate regarding his dependability as a leading man.

The Khiladi actor has now delivered as many as 11 flops in the last two years.

Akshay blames the audience, the pandemic for his films' failure, but not his choice of roles.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar might be one of the most successful names in Bollywood but his recent films haven’t done well at the box office. Although the trailer of his latest flick Sarfira looked promising, the audience sort of rejected the film and preferred Kalki 2898 AD and Kill over it.

The Khiladi of Bollywood, however, blamed the audience in a recent interview for the failure of his films. In the interview with Forbes India, the 56-year-old actor stated that the pandemic has altered film industry dynamics which is why his films aren’t setting the box office on fire. According to him, the audience has become more selective about their cinema outings post-Covid, which has impacted his films negatively.

In the same interview, Kumar said that he is hopeful that his perseverance and hard work will eventually lead him to box office success, again. But is the audience really to blame for the downfall of Khiladi Kumar, or is it himself?

Let’s take a look at some of his recent work and discuss why those films weren’t able to create magic with the audience and do well at the Box Office (BO).

Bellbottom (2021) – INR 150 crore budget, INR 51 crore BO

BellBottom | Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar | Vaani | Vashu, Jackky Bhagnani | Huma | Aug 19, 2021Presenting the official trailer of BellBottom, a Spy Thriller - Directed By Ranjit M Tewari. Amongst multiple heinous airplane hijacks ...

Before Bellbottom, Akshay Kumar’s films were quite popular amongst Indian and Pakistani communities across the world. However, he became part of the pro-Modi bandwagon through this period film, which resulted in his alienation from fans across the border.

Bachchhan Paandey (2022) – INR 180 crore budget, INR 73 crore BO

Bachchhan Paandey - Official Trailer | Akshay, Kriti, Jacqueline, Pankaj T | Sajid N | 15 AprilAmazon presents, Bachchhan Paandey Official Trailer Directed By: Farhad Samji Written By: Nischay Kuttanda & Farhad Samji ...

Despite featuring Arshad Warsi and Kriti Sanon, Bachchhan Paandey didn't fare well at the box office for many reasons. The story, the direction, and the performances weren’t up to par, while the prior release of The Kashmir Files did the remaining damage.

Samrat Prithviraj (2022) – INR 150 – 300 crore budget, INR 90 crore BO

Samrat Prithviraj | Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, Manushi ChhillarHis sword knows nothing but victory. He is Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan. ▻ Subscribe Now: https://goo.gl/xs3mrY Stay updated!

This period drama is considered as one of Kumar’s worst, owing to his inability to convincingly play a 12th-century King from the Chauhan Dynasty. He went over the top to play the titular role, which backfired on him, and the film's producers.

Raksha Bandhan (2022) – INR 70 crore budget, INR 62 crore BO

Raksha Bandhan | Official Trailer | Akshay K | Bhumi P | Aanand L Rai | 11 August 2022Bringing you all a story of the purest form of bond that will remind you of yours! ?? #RakshaBandhan releasing on 11th August ...

As soon as the trailer of this film was unveiled, viewers from Pakistan labeled it as an inspired version of Fahad Mustafa’s Load Wedding where he had to worry about his unwed sister before getting married himself. Even though Kumar's performance wasn’t over the top, the idea seemed too '90s, which didn’t help the actor’s career.

Cuttputtli (2022) – INR 135 crore budget

Cuttputlli | Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar, Rakulpreet Singh | Sept 2 | DisneyPlus Hotstar3 Murders, 1 City, a Cop and a Serial-Killer out On the Loose! Watch the #CuttputlliTrailer out now on DisneyPlus Hotstar.

Akshay Kumar tried his hand at the psychological crime thriller with this big-budget flick but it didn’t do well when it made its debut on a streaming platform. Initially titled Mission Cinderella, it offered nothing new to the fans of the Khiladi actor and didn’t impress critics either who were expecting something different.

Ram Setu (2022) – INR 150 crore budget, INR 93 crore BO

Ram Setu | Official Trailer | Hindi | Akshay Kumar | Only in Theatres 25th Oct 2022Subscribe to Watch the BEST OF MOVIES here : https://bit.ly/3q5xovm.

Akshay Kumar turns archaeologist in this Indiana-Jones-inspired movie which was panned by critics and audiences alike at the time of its release. Delays due to COVID-19 and bad storyline and execution contributed a lot to the film’s failure, which failed to recover even its investment.

Selfiee (2023) – INR 100 crore budget, INR 24 crore BO

SELFIEE Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar, Emraan, Nushratt, Diana | Raj Mehta | In Cinemas Feb 24Superstar aur superfan ki aisi kahaani - aapne suni naa hogi kahi! Presenting the trailer of the much awaited drama film ...

Kumar joined hands for the first time with Emraan Hashmi in a film about a Selfiee. On paper, the topic looked great, but the execution wasn’t great, to say the least. Despite the presence of the remixed version of the '90s hit Main Khiladi Tu Anari, the film bombed at the box office.

OMG 2 (2023) – INR 60 crore budget, INR 221 crore BO

OMG2 - Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar, Pankaj Tripathi, Yami Gautam | Amit Rai | In Theatres Aug 11११ अगस्त का बुलावा है आ रहे हैं हम A sequel to the much-celebrated OMG-Oh My God, OMG2 is a ...

Akshay Kumar wasn’t the main lead in the film, which did well on streaming services but wasn’t able to attract crowds in cinemas. The absence of the protagonist (Paresh Rawal) from the first film and the repetition of the plot could be some of the reasons the movie failed to do well.

Mission Raniganj (2023) – INR 55 crore budget, INR 46 crore BO

Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue | Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar | In Cinemas 6th OctoberGet ready to witness one of the largest coal mine rescue missions, INSPIRED BY A REAL HERO, Jaswant Singh Gill!

Although the film was based on a real-life incident where a mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill rescued 65 trapped miners, it was unsuccessful at the box office, possibly because it wasn't something new for the audience. Kumar had been a part of many biopics before this one where the story centered around him, and him alone.

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (2024) – INR 350 crore budget, INR 102 crore BO

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan-Official Hindi Trailer | Akshay, Tiger, Prithviraj | AAZ |In Cinemas 10th AprEk mission, Ek villain, aur Do REAL ACTION Heroes! It doesn't get bigger than this #BadeMiyanChoteMiyan IN CINEMAS ...

The remake of the '90s Bachchan-Govinda starrer could have been a bigger hit, had the makers remained loyal to the original. However, there was nothing common between the two films, besides the age difference between the main leads, Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff.

Sarfira (2024) - INR 80 crore budget, INR 25 crore BO

Even though this film is closer to the work of the old Akshay Kumar who worked in meaningful films, its failure at the box office has dented the Khiladi’s reputation. Not only was the film released during the Kalki 2898 AD phase, it doesn’t feature prominent actors besides Kumar and Paresh Rawal.

Ye Kahani | Sarfira | Akshay Kumar | Radhikka | G.V. Prakash | Manoj MuntashirSUBSCRIBE to Times Music - https://bit.ly/tmchnl A song about rising from the ashes to fulfil your dreams. Presenting 'Ye Kahani' ...

Akshay Kumar still has a handful of films releasing later this year. These include the suspense thriller Khel Khel Mein, the patriotic flick Sky Force, and the police thriller Singham Again. How these films perform at the box office remains to be seen.

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