Cuttputlli: Can Akshay Kumar’s OTT release end his string of flops?

Until a year back, Akshay Kumar was the most dependable Bollywood actor in terms of box office collections. Some of his major releases like Mission Mangal, Good Newwz, and Sooryavanshi were top-earners at the box office, which, according to reports, have collected Rs. 290.59 crores, Rs. 318.57 crores, and Rs. 295 crore, respectively.

Since then, the superstar’s luck at the box office has been steadily waning. His three recent films, Bachchan Pandey, Samrat Prithviraj, and Raksha Bandhan have all been declared flops. While Bachchan Pandey collected Rs. 73.11 crores against a budget of Rs. 180 crores, Samrat Prithviraj collected Rs. 90.32 crores. The historical action-drama, which was made for Rs. 175 crores, also faced criticism on grounds of not being historically accurate. Raksha Bandhan, which was released alongside Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, also could not revive his fate. The family drama, which was made for Rs. 100 crores, only managed to collect around Rs. 60 crores at the box office.

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Kumar will now be releasing Cutputlli, a psychological thriller, on September 2, 2022. This time around, the 54-year-old actor has chosen to release the film on an OTT platform, Disney+ Hotstar. The digital rights of the film were sold to Hotstar for Rs. 125 crores, according to Bollywood Hungama. This makes the film Kumar’s first entry into the Rs.100 crore-club, a place that he had almost made his own until 2022. Kumar’s 2020 release, Laxmii, had become the biggest release on Disney+ Hotstar VIP on its release.

OTT platforms are proving to be a haven for Bollywood producers at the moment, especially during this time when most films are facing calls for a boycott on social media. Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh has also said that the trend has indeed impacted box office collections. Here’s a look at his tweet:

Aamir Khan’s Chaddha did fail at the box office, but the actor managed to earn Rs. 95 crores by selling its digital rights to Netflix. Reports suggest that Shah Rukh Khan has also sold the rights to his upcoming release, Pathaan, for a sum of Rs. 200 crores.

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Having taken care of the profits, it remains to be seen how Kumar’s Cuttputlli is received by critics. All his last three releases were panned by critics, and people associated with the production had also questioned his commitment to the character. A member of the production crew told National Herald that Kumar wouldn’t even grow a mustache for his character before he was shooting other films simultaneously. It remains to be seen whether Kumar’s attempt at a psychological thriller manages to please the naysayers.