Akshay Kumar has been a part of the film industry as long as Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan have, but he is probably the only Bollywood star from the league who managed to work in more than 100 movies. While everyone was busy comparing and talking about three Khans with one another, Akshay did his job quietly. However, it wasn’t an easy task for him to reach where he is right now, imposing authority at the box office.
The actor didn’t have a godfather to launch him or to fall back on whenever things went wrong. Back in the 90s, Akshay did many action movies to stay relevant in an era where audiences couldn’t stop talking about Shah Rukh Khan.
After a point, his movies started to look repetitive and the list of flops started getting lengthier. He gave 16 back-to-back flops.
In 2016, he had a fresh start with ‘Airlift’. There was no looking back after that, he had 10 consecutive hits. Here’s how much some of his movies earned – ‘Kesari’: Rs 200 crore, ‘Gold’: Rs 105 crore, ‘2.0’ (Hindi): Rs 189 crore, ‘Pad Man’: Rs 81.8 crore, ‘Toilet – Ek Prem Katha’: Rs 134.2 crore, ‘Rustom’: Rs 128 crore, ‘Housefull 3’: Rs 109 crore, and ‘Jolly LLB 2’: Rs 117 crore.
Guess he realized that the Khiladi genre has dried up and was quick enough to switch.
Experimenting with genre while talking about relevant social issues, he has made himself into a brand whose name is sufficient to bring people into theatre. Akshay has three-four film releases every year, unlike most of his contemporaries.
After Kesari and Mission Mangal, the multi-starrer comedy ‘Housefull 4’ and romcom ‘Good News’ were also super hits. His upcoming films – Rohit Shetty’s ‘Sooryavanshi’, ‘Laxmmi Bomb’, ‘Bachchan Pandey’, and ‘Prithviraj’ are set to release this year.
Akshay is highest earning actor in the world
The Forbes list describes Akshay Kumar as “Bollywood’s top-earning star” and “One of India’s most philanthropic celebrities”. He has secured 52nd spot in Forbes’ 2020 list of 100 highest-paid celebrities. Forbes describes Akshay Kumar as “Bollywood’s top-earning star” and “One of India’s most philanthropic celebrities – he donated $4.5 million to coronavirus relief in the country.” Forbes also lists Akshay’s upcoming web-series debut, Amazon Prime’s ‘The End’ and his much-awaited films ‘Bachchan Pandey’ and ‘Bell Bottom’ in his bio.
Variety of roles
Akshay has never compromised with his choice of movies, most of which have a social message for the audience. Many of the actors would have resisted signing ‘Pad-Man’ or said yes to a flick titled ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’. That’s not all, he has featured in many women-oriented movies and added his box office pull to them without taking attention away from his co-stars.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Akshay said, “All these things have been taught to me by my own experience. I’ve learned that if I do different genres, I won’t be tagged. When I used to do a lot of action, everyone said, ‘He is an action hero and nothing else’. So, I tried comedy, and then everyone was talking about just that. Then I decided I’ve to do different kinds of films. So, I am thankful to people, and the media, for criticizing me to that point and bringing out the best in me.”
Patriotic days of release
Akshay has managed to release his films around either Republic Day (‘Airlift’, ‘Baby’), or during Independence Day (‘Rustom’, ‘Brothers’). This always helps in giving him a longer weekend.
Akshay is quite disciplined
He can easily be passed off as the fittest man from his generation of actors. Akshay is a martial art expert and prefers to perform his own stunts. Recently, he was seen shooting for Rohit Shetty’s ‘Sooryavanshi’ while hanging from a helicopter. You read it right! At the launch of his forthcoming Amazon show, ‘The End’, he had set himself on fire.
Akshay is one of the actors hardly seen at any of the Bollywood parties. He doesn’t compromise on his fitness routine and sleep timings. He is someone who doesn’t drink and smoke and continues to pose a tough competition to the younger brigade with his chiseled body.
