The dismal performance of Akshay Kumar’s latest release, Selfiee, has sent shockwaves across the Bollywood industry. The movie opened to a mere 3 crore at the box office, which is an alarming figure for a superstar of Akshay Kumar’s stature. It is even lower than the last week’s release Shehzada. The disappointing opening has put a dent in the image of Akshay Kumar as a reliable box office draw and has raised concerns about his prospects as a leading actor. This is not the first time that Akshay Kumar has faced a setback at the box office. In recent years, he has delivered a series of underwhelming movies that have failed to connect with audiences.
This has resulted in a decline in the box office collections of his movies and has given rise to questions about his relevance in an industry that is constantly evolving. But this movie has been the lowest opening any Akshay movie has gotten. The opening day of Selfiee has further compounded the problems for Akshay Kumar. The movie was made on a budget of around 150 crores, which makes it an expensive movie of his career. With such a high budget, the expectations were naturally high, and the dismal opening put the movie on the path to becoming a major financial disaster.
The failure of Selfiee is also a cause for concern for the Bollywood industry as a whole. The movie was expected to continue the box office recovery which was started this year with Pathaan which earned over 1000 Crore and is still creating magic, but its failure has dampened the hopes of filmmakers who were looking forward to a resurgence of audience interest in theatres. Akshay Kumar, who was once considered an invincible box office star, now finds himself in a precarious position. With a string of underperforming movies, his brand value is likely to take a hit as a result. To keep his superstar image alive, he needs a big hit that can resonate with audiences and put him back on the path to box-office success.
The failure of Selfiee has sent shockwaves across the Bollywood industry also because it was a movie of a big production house. The industry now needs good and mass content and strong storytelling to win over audiences in the current climate. The industry needs to work towards creating compelling and engaging content that can bring audiences to theatres and revive the box office.
