With four back-to-back hits, huge box office returns and the whopping zeroes added to his cost per film, Akshay Kumar is the new King of Bollywood. Anil kapoor is almost ready to shoot Akshay Kumar. He is pointing the gun at Kumar’s chest and is clearly in no mood to show mercy. On his part, Kumar, with fake blood on the right side of his chiseled visage, is standing perfectly still with his eyes not giving away any emotion. Kapoor mouths a couple of heavy-duty rasta Hindi dialogues, sniggers and swings in action. A voice from a distance calls out, “Bhaiya ji”. Kapoor turns, Kumar blinks and the director shouts, “Cut.”
We’re on the sets of Yash Raj Films’ Tashan, touted as this summer’s most awaited release. With a star cast boasting of B town’s hottest lovebirds (read Saif and Kareena), the audience waits with bated breath for its release. But industry watchers’ eyes are set on Akshay Kumar. For an industry obsessed with numbers, Kumar is the No. 1 guy. If Tashan clicks it’ll be Kumar’s fifth hit in a row. In the trade circles he is known as the ‘Rs 534 crore’ hero—the gross amount all his four super hits made at the box office in 2007. Welcome scored Rs 158 crore, Namastey London grossed Rs 142 crore while Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiya contended with Rs 124 crore and Rs 110 crore respectively.
“Akshay ka toh bhagya uday ho gaya hai. Anything he touches is gold. He has been ‘big’ for the last couple of years but right now he’s become the biggest,” opines trade specialist, Vikas Mohan. Like the typical Bollywood flick, everybody loves the outsider who makes it big. You know, the quintessential rags-to-riches hero sans a celebrated last name, who gets the hits, the babes and rakes in the moolah. In recent times, Shah Rukh Khan has famously been this and done that. Like SRK, Kumar’s success story is equally rivetting.To be fair nobody really gave Kumar a.k.a Rajiv Bhatia a chance. For a long time he was just this Punjabi boy from a modest family in Delhi who had worked as a waiter in Bangkok. They sniggered about his desi accent, his hairy chest and his over reliance on his one true love: martial arts. He was famously dubbed as a Cardboard Hero. But credit to the guy’s grit that he learned on the job. For every Deedar, there was a Khiladi and for every Mr Bond there was a Yeh Dillagi. And now finally after 17 years in showbiz, Kumar has earned himself the tag of ‘Hit Machine’ by the trade folk. So how did he crack the elusive hit formula? The superstar replies, “Write it down. It’s dedication multiplied by talent minus arrogance divided by luck is equal to ME i.e. [Dedication x talent – arrogance / luck = ME ( Hit Machine)].” He rattles it off with a deadpan look, he has obviously given the formula a lot of thought. And the numbers prove that it worked for him. Reportedly, he has been paid over Rs 20 crore for a single film with Venus Movies. “It is true that Akshay has hiked his price. He has signed the new Venus film for more than Rs 20 crore and apart from that, he will have 54 per cent share of the film’s total profit,” says Mohan.
Ratan Jain, head honcho of Venus Movies, gives a one-line explanation for Kumar’s mind-boggling remuneration, “He’s worth it!” Kumar has no qualms discussing figures, “When I joined the industry other figures were following me (he makes the figure of a girl with his hands) and now it’s these kind of figures,” he laughs. The earlier comment is suggestive of his Casanova days when tabloids had given him a ‘love rat’ reputation.
In the wake of all his mega hits, many are quick to dub him as King Kumar compared to SRK’s King Khan. SRK has so far been the untouched king in the overseas market. And though that is unlikely to change soon, Kumar’s popularity abroad is soaring with every release. Says Mohan, “As far as popularity and collections are concerned, Akshay has come a long way, but Shah Rukh is phenomenal. He still commands the biggest overseas opening.” In an earlier interview to this newspaper SRK himself made a dig about his face-off with Kumar. “I constantly read stories of some actor ousting me, this time it’s Akshay who is supposed to oust me. If you recollect not too long ago Amitabh Bachchan was supposed to have ousted me after I ousted him. Hrithik Roshan was supposed to have ousted me too after Kaho Na Pyar Hai. It’s been happening for the last 17 years. I enjoy the fact that I am always ousted but like a bad penny I come back. I’m India’s worst habit,” said Shah Rukh. Ask Kumar if he believes he is the new King and he says, “King Khan has been stable for years while this Kumar is living on a lucky patch. According to me, King Khan still rules but feel free to ask me the same question next year.”
Next year will be crucial for Kumar with Rs 150 crore riding on him on his forthcoming Tashan, Nikhil Advani’s Chandni Chowk to China, Nagesh Kukunoor’s Eight by Ten, debutant Tony’s Blue and Anees Bazmee’s Singh Is King. He’s also turning producer with the launch of his banner Hari Om Productions. “The big dream is to take action to another level in Indian film,” he says. So, he’s been training for Parkour (Wikipedia describes it as an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body) while for Blue, which is a underwater treasure hunt, he’s learnt deep sea diving. “You’ve got to give something new to the audience each time otherwise these newcomers with their new moves, six packs and shiny hair will eliminate us, old boys,” he says. Relax Akshay. Just keep following your hit formula and you’ll see that this ain’t happening anytime soon.
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