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 Whatever Akshay Kumar does, he does it with style. If he comes up with
two huge money spinners in the form of 'Singh Is Kinng' and 'Welcome',
his flops too never fail to make news. Last year it was 'Tashan', which
in spite of being a failure went on to garner over 30 crores just from
India box office. This year it is 'Chandni Chowk To China' which
dropped miserably after the opening weekend but already has 30 crores
in it's kitty (from India). And yes, it is going to surpass the total
of 'Tashan'!
So what makes the two films special? Well, in spite of not managing to
recover the money for their investors, the two films have created
records when it comes to being the highest money spinners when it comes
to films that have flopped. And we are not just talking about the
current times; we are talking about the history of Indian cinema where
these two films would find a place by being the only ones that crossed
30 crores milestone at the box office and still were labeled as flops.
Says a film maker who has worked with Akshay but wishes to be unnamed,
"That's the kind of pull that Akshay Kumar generates today. Even his
flops make more money than so many other hits. No, let's not take away
from these successful films. After all they may have been made at a
nominal cost and sold at a reasonable price considering the kind of
star cast involved and budget they have been mounted at. Of course an
Akshay Kumar film is costlier due to which both the profits as well as
the risk quotient, whichever way the tide turns, is also higher."
Last year when 'Tashan' had flopped, Akshay Kumar could deserve to
laugh about it since first and foremost it had Yash Raj Films as the
biggest name involved and secondly, it was a multi starrer with the
likes of Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. Hence, each of
the actors escaped all the flak. However, thing is different for Akshay
in case of 'Chandni Chowk To China' since the film was completely sold
on his name and star power.
"And that's the reason why the opening was still decent", says an
industry insider, "Now if the movie by itself doesn't carry much merits
then there isn't much that a star can do. This is why the opening of
films like 'Chandni Chowk To China' and 'Tashan' have to be looked at
closely. They tell a lot about the star power, not to forget the box
office figures that have created records though not the kind that
Akshay would appreciate in longer run."
Narrating a hypothesis, he adds with tongue firmly in cheek, "If his
next film does say 40 crores, he would be happier if that figure is
good enough to recover the investment rather than have a 50 crore
runner for a movie where 100 crores have been invested. It's hardly a
record that he would love to hold!"
Sampurn Media
By Joginder Tuteja
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