KING WHO? The failure of Chandni Chowk to China (top) has dimmed Akshay Kumar’s star power

What goes up must come down. The more so in the film industry. Like many others before him, Akshay Kumar’s just learnt this the hard way. A spate of hits over the last couple of years put the action man-turned-comedian right there on top of the actors’ hierarchy, so much so that he was Bollywood’s highest taxpayer this year. But if his losing streak of this year continues, that might just be a one-time event.

Till just the other day, Akki — as he is universally known — was the man with the Midas touch. From Namastey London to Welcome to Bhool Bhulaiyya, he could do no wrong. This year is another story. The misses seem to be piling up.

But Akki stresses that he was never in the race for the numero uno position. “I don’t like being in the number race. I am an actor who does his job and goes home at the end of the day. There is enough work for everyone. It is a waste of time to talk about such stuff,” he says. But he can’t deny that his good luck seems to have run its course.

Take it from trade analyst Taran Adarsh. “Akshay’s standing in the industry has been challenged. His last few films were duds. Chandni Chowk To China and 8x10 Tasveer didn’t even manage an opening,” he says.

The multi-starrer Tashan marked the beginning of the downturn. Akki was impressive, but the film flopped. It is “...a road movie...that is going in all the wrong directions,” a critic said. Singh Is Kinng did well, but it essentially rode on expectations that Akshay’s previous successes generated. Made for Rs 35 crore, the film sold for Rs 68-70 crore. The film opened well, but interest started waning with each passing week. In its first week, the film grossed Rs 33 crore domestically, which fell to Rs 3.4 crore in the third week itself.

The flop of the year, however, was Chandni Chowk To China. There were reports that the film was so unimpressive that people actually walked out of the theatres. Made for Rs 51 crore, the film managed just Rs 12 crore in the first week and was biting the dust by the third.

Akki’s fans hoped that the actor would shine in 8x10 Tasveer, especially since the film had been directed by the award-winning filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor. Critics felt one of the problems with the film was that Akshay’s role demanded high emotive skills which the actor lacked. “I needed an A-lister and Akshay’s name was thrown up. I met him for the role and he said ‘yes’. So he was the only one I met for this role,” Kukunoor says.

In hindsight, checking out others would have been a good idea. Having built his reputation as a comedian par excellence, Akshay, as Jai Puri, an intense character who can read the history behind any photograph, was tough to digest. “When I do comedy, people ask why I don’t try new stuff. And when I do that, they ask why I am taking a risk. It’s a no-win situation,” says an exasperated Akshay.

Other reasons the film failed were that there were fewer prints and a tighter leash on marketing and promotions budgets in the wake of the economic slowdown. 8x10 Tasveer was made for Rs 40 crore but collected just Rs 8 crore.

The dimming of Akshay’s sheen can be attributed to a great many factors — from bad scripts to wrong choice of roles, says Adarsh. Quite a few good directors had to give Akshay a miss because the star was charging mind-boggling amounts for his roles last year. Insiders say he was sporting a price tag of Rs 30-45 crore per film. Now with budgets crunching all around, he too has slashed his fees, almost admitting that his saleability has dropped.

Where his career goes from here is a wait and watch game. But pundits believe that if Akshay wants to remain in the game, it’s time he started paying more attention to the scripts and the roles than to the greenbacks offered. The super-successful Khans, Aamir and Shah Rukh, long gave up the race for quantity for quality. And if their recent hits are anything to go by, the strategy has worked. Last year, the two Khans released just one film each, as opposed to Akshay’s three major releases. Aamir’s Ghajini grossed close to Rs 56 crore while SRK’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi secured a little over Rs 19 crore.

Over to you, Akki.