Flops immaterial, Akshay Kumar on film signing spree

NEW DELHI - Action. Comedy. Multi-starrers. Flops, flops and more flops. Akshay Kumar might be yearning to roll out a decent hit since “Singh Is Kinng”, but experts say it is not the end of the road for the Bollywood star.

“Akshay Kumar is a star and will remain a star irrespective of the fate of his films. He has a line-up of movies. Just last week he signed three more films - a remake of ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next and Tony D’Souza’s next,” trade analyst Vikas Mohan told IANS.

After “Singh Is Kinng” the filmography of actor-producer-star anchor Akshay has only flops listed on it. With the exception of “Housefull”, almost all of his outings - “Jumbo” (voice over), “Chandni Chowk to China”, “8 X 10 Tasveer”, “Kambakkht Ishq”, “Blue”, “De Dana Dan”, “Khatta Meetha”, “Action Replayy” and “Tees Maar Khan”- have left the industry bleeding.

Sajjan Damani of Shree International, who distributed “Action Replayy” in the international market, said: “Akshay has never been out of the game. He is a star who has always been there. What has failed is his films and not he as an actor. The problem has been with the content of his films or the filmmaker. He will always be there among the top stars. He just needs one right film.”

His first release of 2011 is Nikhil Advani’s “Patiala House”, releasing Feb 11. In the latter part of the year, Akshay has several movies lined up like “Thank You”, “Desi Boyz”, “Joker” and “Housefull 2″.

“Akshay Kumar is one of the most professional actors that our industry is blessed with. He has outdone himself in ‘Patiala House’ and the audiences will get to see a new level of Akshay. He is truly the ‘Khiladi’,” said “Patiala House” co-producer Bhushan Kumar of T-Series.

The 43-year-old is, however, infamous for his exorbitant fees. He reportedly asked for Rs.24 crore as remuneration to play Dawood Ibrahim in Ekta Kapoor’s sequel to her 2010 hit “Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai”.

“The discussions are on and no movie has been fixed yet. It is to premature to talk on this thing now until any deal is locked. However, Akshay has the capacity and he is one of the biggest money spinning actors of the modern era. He is a force to reckon with,” Girish Johar, head of acquisition and distribution of Ekta’s Balaji Motion Pictures , told IANS.

Mohan said: “Akshay Kumar starrers are always big budget movies. If he asks and people pay, then how can one raise questions?”

Akshay on the other hand had said: “I’m not an unreasonable person who’ll want losses for his associates. I’m ensuring that the production cost is under check.”

“Everyone wants to work with Akshay Kumar. He is not down. It is the films that are letting him down. He drives in good numbers and people still want to go for an Akshay Kumar movie,” said an analyst.

(Robin Bansal can be contacted at robin.b@ians.in)