Is Akshay Kumar a threat to the top spot?

An analysis on Akshay Kumar’s career by Indicine reader Abhishek Sharma.

Akshay Kumar has been around in the industry for 20 years now and the count of his successful movies would most definitely be greater than those of Khan’s but he has never posed a serious threat to any of the reigning Khan’s for the top Spot. Let us try to figure out the reason with a brief analysis of Khiladi’s career.

He tasted super success at a very early stage of his career with Khiladi, Mohra, Yeh Dillagi and Waqt Hamara hai. The name Khiladi became his key to success and he utilized it to the max with movies like Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Sabse Bada Khiladi and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi. But Akshay then was never considered to be a contender for the top spot which was fought between Shahrukh Khan, Sunny Deol, Aamir Khan, Govinda and Salman Khan.

Then came his bad phase in the late 90s. His movies having repeated action stunts failed miserably. But he kept trying and in the year 2000 he was back with Hera Pheri, Dhadkan and Khiladi 420. Comedy, Drama and Action in the same year worked well for him. Slowly he started getting the big movies from big banners. Akshay climbed the success ladder, slowly but steadily and he really peaked during the 2006-2008 period. It started with Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and he followed it up with Aitraaz, Waqt, Garam Masala, Phir Hera Pheri, Bhagam Bhaag, Namaste London, Heyy Babby, Bhool Bhulaiyan, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng. All the movies (with all their flaws) went on to become huge hits and Akki’s presence itself became a guarantee to Box Office success.

But his bad choice of movies brought him down again. Although these movies recovered it’s investment, they could not achieve what was expected out of them. Chandni Chowk to China, Tasveer 8×10, Blue, Kambakht Ishq, De Dana Dan, Khatta Meetha, Tees Maar Khan, Patiala House , Thank You and Desi Boyz. Housefull was his only success during this period.

Now with the success of Housefull 2 and the super success of Rowdy Rathore, Akshay is back in serious business. But the question remains : Will he be able to maintain this or take this to another level or just like in the past – throw it away given his choice of movies.

Some positive and negative factors about him that quickly come to mind are mentioned below:

• Super Fit (Positive): Given his dedication combined with superb physique, he can accomplish tough roles with ease and thats the reason why Akshay is able to complete movies well ahead of time.
• Successful Partnership with Big Names (Positive): Akshay is one of the very few stars, who has maintained success and healthy relation and is working with very big names of the industry. Be it Sajid Nadiadwala, Sajid Khan, Sanjay Bhansali, Anees Bazmee, Vipul Shah, Priyadarshan, Milan Luthria, Abbas Mustan,Farah Khan or Yashraj, Akshay has worked with all.
• Number of Movies (Negative): While all the major stars ( 3 Khans and Hrithik), are sticking to 1-2 releases in a year, Akshay still is having 4 releases every year.
• Craze for next release (Negative): When compared to the craze which is around Ek Tha Tiger, Dabangg 2, SRK’s next, Talaash, Dhoom 3 and Krrish 3, Akshay’s future releases have relatively less awareness. One factor can be the number of films he has signed and other can be fan following.

So is Akshay a real threat to the top spot or not ?