Akshay Kumar: I don't carry the burden of box office

One of the most sought-after actors in Bollywood, Akshay Kumar says he does not believe in taking the burden of performing at the box office as his sole focus on a Friday is to deliver a good film that will make his fans happy.     

Kumar was last seen in Sooryavanshi (2021) which emerged as the biggest hit of the Hindi film industry in two years. It performed extremely well even amid the pandemic and with theatrical restrictions.

Trade experts have already set their expectations on his upcoming action-comedy Bachchhan Paandey, hoping that the film would break the box office records when it opens in cinemas on March 18.

In an interview with PTI, Kumar said he is not exactly zen-like before a release, but he also doesn't lose his mind over a film's prospect. "It isn't that I am completely chill. I do feel the pre-release anxiety, which should be there. The pressure of the result is there, if the audience will like my work, like the film, that's there. But there's something I follow since I started working in the industry. If a film doesn't work, I feel terrible the next day and then in two days, I'll move on to some other film. Some people start brooding, thinking, 'Why did the film not work?' I don't do that," the 54-year-old actor said.

Kumar said the way to get out of the loop of failure and success, is to simply move on. "You've to forget what you've done, even if it has been successful, and start afresh. I don't carry the burden of the box office, not at all, I've never had that. My fans love me, irrespective of whether my films work or not. They know me. They watch my films, they love me a lot," he added.

Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, Bachchhan Paandey is mounted as a true-blue Hindi masala film, where Kumar's titular gangster is aided by action, romance, music, and an ensemble of other actors— Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Arshad Warsi.

For many, the film, directed by Farhad Samji, serves as a reminder of the genre Bollywood used to make.

Kumar said the Hindi film industry functions on one primary factor: Makers will back what is in vogue and everyone will follow suit. "We have a herd mentality here. If socially relevant films work, then everyone starts making that. If a 'masala' film works, then 10 such would be announced. So this herd mentality is a huge thing here.  Everything also has a season. According to me, now will be the season of such (masala) films, but maybe they'll fade in a year or two."

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