The world has slowed down with the advent of the pandemic? Well, not for Akshay Kumar at least. Even though the film industry was practically shut down between March and September with more than 95% of shooting coming to a halt, Akshay Kumar went ahead and wrapped up an entire film [Bell Bottom] during this duration. This isn't all as he has similar plans for the last quarter of 2020 as well, what with the sets of Prithviraj already waiting for him and a shooting schedule already set for the completion of Atrangi Re.
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The 'one man industry', as he is own often called, is keeping up his promise of featuring in three to four films every year, and though in 2020 he would have only one release now [Laxmmi Bomb] and that too on the OTT medium, it hasn't stopped him from ensuring that there is a plethora of content that is now in place already for 2021.
The films that would be ready before the close of year? Sooryavanshi, Laxmmi Bomb, Bell Bottom, Prithviraj and Atrangi Re.
In the times when the industry was left wondering if there would be light at the end of the tunnel, Akshay Kumar went ahead and wrote new rules. He, along with his enterprising team of producers [Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepika Deshmukh, Nikkhil Advani, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani], brought innovation into play and chose Scotland as the location for start to end shooting schedule for Scotland in August-September timeframe. The pandemic had been almost eliminated from this part of the world and once Akshay gave a go ahead, all was set.
Not that other filmmakers couldn't have chosen to take this route. However, for majority of actors, it was a wait-n-watch scenario. No one really wanted to take that risk and moreover, majority were also constrained by the script and screenplay restrictions of setting the film overseas. In case of Bell Bottom, this was possible. Moreover, with his many videos that Akshay Kumar shot during last six months, he was constantly creating public awareness around keeping safe. First, it was an urge to stay home, and then it was to resume work with precautions.
While he led from the front, he also took another radical decision. Amongst the big superstars, he is the only one (other than Ajay Devgn for his Bhuj – The Pride of India) who made his intentions quite clearly right at the onset of the pandemic that he wouldn't mind Laxmmi Bomb releasing straight to OTT. Not that it's a made-for-digital film. It is a big budget affair with crores at stake. However, as someone who comes with strong business acumen, he knew that while even on OTT the film would go with a heavy price tag, it would also reduce the burden of his films getting accumulated due to 2020 shut down.
Majority of other superstars work in one or at maximum two films a year. However, for someone like Akshay Kumar who saw a remarkable 2019 with four major releases and already had plans for at least three more in 2020, just waiting for theatrical arrival would have meant a major backlog in 2021.
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No wonder, he allowed Sooryavanshi to wait for a theatrical release but decided to make an early announcement for Laxmmi Bomb to be ready for OTT. He had already wrapped up work on Sooryavanshi earlier this year and allocated his dates for Laxmmi Bomb to come to closure soon. Post that he went to Scotland for Bell Bottom which is now the first film internationally to have been conceptualized and wrapped up entirely during pandemic.
There are busier days in store for Akshay Kumar already. As I write this, sets of Prithviraj have already been put together by Yash Raj Films an Akshay Kumar is gearing up to wear the costume for the historical. Continuing with his disciplined approach of staying fit and finishing his films on time, Akshay would soon be through with this magnum opus and then head straight for Aanand L. Rai's Atrangi Re, which is mid-way in its production. Buzz has it that Akshay would fly from Mumbai to Delhi in November and then work on this romantic affair around Diwali.
Even though Bollywood may have been in the line of fire for last few months due to various unfortunate happenings, Akshay Kumar is staying to be a superstar who has kept his head down and is busy generating work not just for himself but also for the industry. Last year, he had scored three double centuries in the form of Mission Mangal, Housefull 4 and Good Newwz. Though in 2020 he won't have a theatrical release, he has created good enough content already to bring on the fireworks in 2021.
Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal.