Decoding "Khiladi" Akshay Kumar's success at the box office
What's the story
Bollywood's very own Khiladi, Akshay Kumar, is one of the most dependable actors today.
With 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha', he is again expected to create magic at the box office.
He has come a long way from an actor who delivered 14 straight flops to someone who can guarantee commercial success now.
Let's take a look at the ups and downs of his career!
About
Started acting in movies by chance
Akshay Kumar began his career with the 1991 flick 'Saugandh'.
He initially started off as an action hero, which earned him the Khiladi nickname.
He earlier used to be criticized for his zero acting skills, weak voice, and no USP.
But today, with over 120 movies on his resume, the 50-year-old actor's 26-year film career is an astonishing success story.
2007-17
The decade in which Akshay evolved as an actor
Akshay had been doing movies without a break, but couldn't get the much-needed commercial success until around 2006-07.
It was in that period he broke into Bollywood's big league with blockbusters like Phir Hera Pheri, Welcome etc; he hadn't looked back ever since.
He transitioned from an action hero of the 1990s to an actor who is equally good at comedy and drama.
Analysis
Delivered 14 hits over the last ten years
Over the last ten years, Akshay Kumar acted in 37 films, out of which 14 were declared as hits at the box office, nine were moderately successful, while 14 were flops.
About 46% of the films he worked in the same period come under the comedy or romantic-comedy category, 30% under the drama genre, and 24% were thrillers or action movies.
Films
Managed to stand up to Bollywood's Khans
Of the 37 movies Akshay starred in over the last decade, 23 were solo films while the rest were multi-starrers.
His success percentage in solo films is better than multi-starrers; most solo films have made huge profits. He is now considered as a pretty versatile actor.
In fact, he is the only standing competition to the three Khans of Bollywood.