The past two Fridays were of paramount importance for Akshay Kumar. With back-to-back releases -- HOLIDAY - A SOLDIER IS NEVER OFF DUTY [featuring him as an actor and producer] and FUGLY [in the capacity of the producer] -- the actor/producer must've been anxious, for sure. After all, every new release is akin to appearing for a fresh examination. While the results of HOLIDAY are out in the open -- the film is gallantly marching towards Rs 100 cr -- FUGLY is now facing the audience test. The response has been divided for FUGLY, with its business witnessing an upward trend in some circuits [North India in particular], but the tide remaining low in certain sectors.
At a time when younger actors are striding into the 100 cr Club [Ranveer Singh's GOLIYON KI RAASLEELA RAM-LEELA and Arjun Kapoor's 2 STATES], Akshay's last few releases -- ambitious projects all -- have failed to achieve the milestone. Films like ONCE UPON AY TIME IN MUMBAI DOBAARA! and SPECIAL 26 were helmed by reputable names, but the films ran out of breath after a point, although SPECIAL 26 won rave reviews and fared reasonably well at the BO. However, BOSS, Akshay's last release [before HOLIDAY] didn't live up to the enormous expectations attached to it.
For those not conversant with film biz, Akshay's two movies have hit the ton -- ROWDY RATHORE and HOUSEFULL-2 [both 2012 releases]. Hopefully, HOLIDAY should reach there sooner or later, depending on how this well-made thriller performs on weekdays and also during Weekend 3, when it faces HUMSHAKALS. The screen count will be reduced, while the number of shows will also be limited to 3/4 at prime plexes, since HUMSHAKALS is expected to have a wide release.
As for FUGLY, it clearly led the march amongst new releases, but the film, targeted at youngistaan mainly, will have to perform well on weekdays to stay afloat. The weekend business is ordinary at best and a consistent run from Monday to Thursday will ensure a decent total at the end of Week 1. As for the other new [Hindi] releases [CHAL BHAAG, MACHHLI JAL KI RANI HAI, UNFORGETTABLE], well, the response has been lukewarm at the ticket window.
