It’s been a rough ride for Akshay Kumar at the box office. Samrat Prithviraj at the end of Wednesday, had a collection of Rs 52 crore in the domestic market on an estimated budget of over Rs 150 crore. The film is a commercial failure and comes soon after the star’s Bachchhan Paandey too tanked – again on a budget of over Rs 150 crore, it brought in just Rs 50 crore.
The lean patch goes back a little longer, with 2020 seeing Laxmii and Bell Bottom not working with Sooryavanshi striking pay dirt in 2021. Kumar, one of the more bankable stars, has seen many a rough phase, but the fact to contend with now is a dramatic shift in audience preferences and quality of content, in the recent past, not cutting ice. In the case of Kumar, the extent to which the last two films have bombed looks worrying.
Manish Porwal, MD, Alchemist Marketing Solutions, thinks there has been a brand dilution of the old guard – the Khans and Kumar as well – for a while now. “We are seeing the democratisation of celebrities where the larger-than-life image of an actor has taken a bit of a hit. It is fair to say that the awe factor for the stars is now being replaced by relatability.” That said, Porwal is clear that Kumar has had a history of being a long-term player and things can easily change. “If he were my brand endorser, I would be watchful rather than worried. It is a blip but no question of getting alarmed.”
Entertainment, more specifically, movies is a tough business on any day and as trade analyst, Taran Adarsh puts it, “every actor survives on a Friday.” According to him, the phenomenon of “hits and flops” is inescapable and every actor has to go through it. “What we are seeing today is how a big-budget film like Radhe Shyam saw its fortunes being affected by The Kashmir Files. Equally, the huge success of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 was quite unexpected and it is an indication of how fickle the audience is,” explains Adarsh.
The worry is that both Bachchhan Paandey and Samrat Prithviraj were expected to do well (produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Yash Raj Films respectively), making the whole issue hard to comprehend. “In the case of Samrat Prithviraj, the music was weak. It is fair to say that Akshay Kumar needs a big-bang hit or just the massive numbers to match his stature.”
This year, the star will have two releases starring Kumar – Raksha Bandhan and Ram Setu. Bachchhan Paandey, an action-comedy was right up the star’s alley and still did not work. “It is a question of two hits and he will be back,” says trade analyst, Komal Nahta. It is something that Akshay Kumar needs quickly.
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