Akshay Kumar is one of those stars who delivers around 3-4 films each year. Kesari 2 is his second project just four months into 2025, Skyforce being the first.
When one thinks about it, if Akshay Kumar's films have the potential to perform better, they could significantly contribute to reviving Bollywood and pulling it out of its current slump.
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If his films do reasonably or even hit business, it's already half the battle won for Bollywood.
For Bollywood to thrive, it ideally needs to deliver around 13-15 hit films in a year. If 3-4 of those belong to Akshay Kumar, the burden on other stars would be significantly reduced.
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Pre-pandemic, even his flops earned ₹80-90 crores, with around 1 crore footfalls, achieved four times a year, which kept theatres and the industry alive.
However, post-pandemic, his films have been struggling to perform at the box office, despite strategies like block bookings.
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It seems like Akshay's core audience has shifted to OTT platforms.
The recently released Kesari 2 has been receiving amazing reviews, but its Day 1 box office collection tells a different story.
The film's first-day earnings were in single digits, reaching only around ₹7.5 to ₹8 crores, even though it was released on Good Friday, a national holiday.
With such a lukewarm opening, surpassing Day 1's collection on Day 2 seems unlikely.
Maybe it's time Akshay Kumar steered away from taking on overly serious or 'intelligent' roles and instead brought more variety to the screen. Only then might he be able to draw a larger audience back to cinemas.