Apart from being one of the busiest actors in the industry, Akshay Kumar is also known to take big risks at the box-office. It started with his 2020 horror comedy Laxmii which the actor decided to release straight on OTT. Last year, when theatres had reopened on partial occupancy, Kumar decided to take a gamble to release his spy thriller Bell Bottom in cinemas, which had a decent run.
Months later, and after a considerable holdup, he served cine-goers with Sooryavanshi. Released on Diwali, the actor managed to draw the audience to the cinema halls and almost collected Rs 200 crore at the box-office. His last outing was Atrangi Re which was also released on OTT.
While many big ticket films like Jersey, RRR, Radhye Sham, Attack postponed their release dates due to the rise of Covid-19 cases and the third wave, which started in the last week of December, Kumar, in a surprise move on Tuesday, announced that his upcoming film Bachchan Pandey will release in theatres on Holi on March 18.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says that the actor has once again taken the charge to revive the Box Office amid the COVID crisis in the country. “It is a bold and courageous move. There are no new films announced and the films which are ready to release are still waiting to look at the scenario to announce their release dates. And here is a man who does it again and announces his next theatrical release,” Adarsh says.
He adds that the announcement has brought in a lot of excitement among the trade and exhibitors, “With many big ticket films like Jersey, RRR, Radhe Shyam being pushed indefinitely, many exhibitors and distributors were worried about the future. But Akshay has definitely put a smile on their faces. Bachchan Pandey will once again bring the industry back on its feet.”
Producer and film business expert Girish Johar says that the release of Bachchan Pandey will only give confidence to to filmmakers. “When Sooryavanshi released in Diwali, the mood was really positive as the audience too returned to cinemas to watch films. Unfortunately, the third wave put the brakes again and the film releases had to be delayed. The release date announcement of Bachchan Pandey is a proactive forward looking move. The cases across the country have started reducing and the release is still two months away, so I believe the makers felt that the situation will be in control by March,” he says.
Praising the actor, Johar adds, “Among the film fraternity, Akshay is known as the one man industry. For the past few years, we have seen that there are four to five releases every year and all his films are different in genre and has something new to offer. At a time when superstars have one release every two years or one release a year, he has been churning out films and kept the box-office going.”
The actor has as many as 10 films in the kitty, including Prithviraj, Raksha Bandhan, Ram Setu, Bachchan Pandey and Mission Cinderella, Selfiee, Oh My God 2, Gorkha, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan remake and a OTT show.
