In an industry long dominated by the Khans, Akshay Kumar has been making a dent the past few years. The actor, who debuted in the early ‘90s has had a rollercoaster ride in the Box Office. But now aged 50 and in an enviable stage in his career, Akshay Kumar is finally reaching heights formerly occupied by the Khans.
Akshay is ranked 76th on the Forbes list of the World’s Highest Paid Celebrities, 2018. Akshay, had earnings of Rs 270 crore. Forbes said ‘one of Bollywood’s leading men has transitioned to socially-conscious roles,’ citing his films such as Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, that focused on government campaigns to improve sanitation, and Padman, about a man hoping to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to rural communities. He also forges millions from profits of his movies and by endorsing about 20 brands.
Since his debut in 1991 with the highly dramatic Saugandh, Akshay went on to become the action leading man of the ‘90s with Khiladi series. Akshay, with his eye-catching novelty and excellent screen presence, bagged roles in the genre that defined the ‘90s action and comedy.
Akki became a favoured star with a following of his own, and as the three Khans of Bollywood rose as the pillar, Akshay carved a bay for himself with new directors and action-comedy entertainers. In the 2000s, Akshay made films like Bhagam Bhaag, Bhool Bhulaiya, Garam Masala, Welcome and Housefull, which in turn catapulted him to be one the biggest and most accepted actors of the industry.
In fact, the 50-year-old actor has been the most highest-earning actor in the last five years. Working mostly with new directors, he’s one of the rare top stars who can open a film. Lately, by adopting the patriot and social work arc, Akshay has definitely increased his widespread track.
In 2016 itself, a year that truly belonged to him, Kumar capped three 100 crore smashing hits. His string of hits included movies like Airlift, Jolly LLB 2, Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, Padman and Rustom, the last of which won him his first ever National Award for Best Actor.
Such movies have reemployed his image as an actor with a sense of good content and entertainment, and the future looks only blazing with projects like 2.0 (opposite superstar Rajinikanth), Gold, Moghul, Crack and Baby 2 under his belt.
Compared to the recent films of contemporaries like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn, Kumar’s output shines through for its medley, lean business model and a sincere, unflagging star performance by him.
Akshay’s box office performance has been amazing with his last few films. None of these films, however, have had the same effect as some of the Khan starrers. Aamir and Salman are veering for a 400-crore movie, while Akshay is yet to enter the 200-crore club. The combined total that Akki’s three films earned was still lesser than the gross of Dangal.
His films are tied up with good content, but few have influenced general minds in a major way. While movies like Dangal, PK and Bajrangi Bhaijaan became subjects of national discussion and would be remembered for long, Airlift or Rustom might gradually lose its shine in five to six years. This might change with the future projects the actor is involved in, and we are eagerly waiting.
