Aditya N
Aditya N
From 2016 to 2019, Akshay Kumar dominated Bollywood as the undisputed king. Referred to as the “hit machine,” his movies consistently had strong openings and went on to become hits and super hits. In 2019 alone, he delivered four superhits – Kesari, Housefull 4, Mission Mangal, and Good Newz – each crossing the 200 crore net mark. However, the scenario has drastically changed post-pandemic. Akshay Kumar’s films now struggle to even reach 5 crores in their opening collections, with their total earnings falling below 35 crores. Here are the opening numbers for his recent releases.
The opening collections of Akshay Kumar’s last five movies are as follows: Bell Bottom made 3 crores, Bachchan Pandey (Holi) made 12 crores, Prithviraj made 9 crores, Raksha Bandhan (Independence Day) made 6 crores, Ram Setu (Diwali) made 14 crores, Selfiee made 2 crores, Mission Raniganj made 2.5 crores, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (Eid) made 13 crores, and Sarfira is expected to make 2 crores. Akshay’s decline is truly astonishing. Audiences and trade experts wonder how a previously well-liked actor became so disliked that his movies now have difficulty attracting even 1-2 lakh viewers.
Sarfira, his most recent film, has garnered a catastrophic reception, similar to Selfiee and Mission Raniganj. For its first day, Sarfira sold around 1,000 tickets in prominent multiplex chains such as PVR, INOX, and Cinepolis. However, no advance bookings are shown on BookMyShow for Mumbai’s top single-screen theaters.
In stark contrast, Prabhas’ two-week-old Kalki 2898 AD has maintained higher show counts and capacity screens on its third Friday, overshadowing Akshay’s latest release. Even Rajkummar Rao is currently selling more tickets. A movie featuring no big stars, only a computer AI-generated character named Munjya, managed to sell 10 times more tickets than Sarfira. Every famous hero has a loyal fan base that ensures their films are watched regardless. The fact that Sarfira couldn’t even sell 1,000 tickets in advance indicates that there might not even be 1,000 fans left for Akshay Kumar. Even Shah Rukh Khan, who faced a dull phase from 2015 to 2018, saw his less-promoted films opening to over 15 crores. Nowadays, an Akshay Kumar film opening with 15 crores seems a far-off possibility. The initial media reviews for Sarfira are outstanding. Akshay has hailed it as the best film of his career, yet everyone seems to avoid it like the plague. It would indeed be a remarkable feat if Akshay Kumar could stage a comeback from this point, something his fans would undoubtedly appreciate.
