Akshay Kumar is one of the most successful actors in the world, regularly appearing in Forbes’s list of highest-paid celebs. And yet most audiences in the West are unaware of his films since he appears exclusively in Bollywood movies, a category of films most viewers are unaware of outside of Asia.
Kumar burst onto the scene with the action-thriller Khiladi and moved from one action role to another for most of his early career. The 2000s saw him gravitate more towards comic movies. Lately, he has found a home in low-budget, socially conscious dramedies. Here are the actor’s best and worst films according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Special 26 (Rating: 86%)
A heist thriller from Neeraj Pandey, the director of Baby and A Wednesday. Set in the ’70s, Kumar plays an aspiring civil servant. After failing to clear the entrance exam, Kumar decides to use his smarts to target politicians and businessmen who hide undocumented and untaxed money within their houses. Posing as an income tax officer, Kumar and his team raid rich houses and haul away the black money, with the owners too terrified of getting caught to report the matter to the police. The law finally catches on, and a cat and mouse game ensues between Kumar’s team and a relentless Police officer.
Om Shanti Om (Rating: 76%)
A musical that perfectly encapsulates and often satirizes Bollywood’s worst excesses, from the overly dramatic plots to unrealistic action. Kumar cameos in a small but hilarious role, playing a grandiose version of his Khiladi persona. The movie itself deals with a love story set within the world of Bollywood movie making. There is a rebirth sub-plot, a haunting sub-plot, and a Hamlet pastiche all mixed in for a bewildering but ultimately touching and engrossing film.
Pad Man (Rating: 76%)
One of the actor’s more recent films, Pad Man is a highly dramatized version of a real-life story. It’s about a man in an Indian village who devised a way to make and distribute sanitary napkins quickly and cheaply. This brought about a medical revolution of sorts for village women who did not have either the awareness or access to menstruation aids before.
Jolly LLB 2 (Rating: 64%)
A sequel to Jolly LLB, Kumar takes over the role of unscrupulous lawyer Jolly Mishra in this courtroom comedy with a raw edge.
After one of Jolly’s hoodwinked clients commits suicide, he is filled with guilt and decides to take up her husband’s case. The husband is falsely accused of terrorist activities, meaning Jolly is taking on the entire judiciary and police system in the process.
Mission Mangal (Rating: 62%)
A retelling of the historic Indian probe MOM that landed on Mars and gave India the distinction of being the first nation to send a probe to Mars on its first attempt. The movie places Kumar as the head of the team that created the probe. This with a team largely composed of women, who must all deal with personal struggles and prejudices that exist in society against working women in order to pull together and make the mission a success.
The Shaukeens (Rating: 20%)
Akshay Kumar plays a supporting role in this remake of a tale about three aging men who fall for a much younger woman.
The comedy film feels forced in many parts, with the uneven narration and poorly developed characters not being able to save the audience from a feeling of ennui. Although the cast has many acting stalwarts like Anupam Kher and Annu Kapoor, the topsy turvy plot leaves a lot to be desired.
Housefull 2: The Dirty Dozen (Rating: 17%)
The second movie in what turned out to be one of the most successful franchises in Bollywood, proving that critical acclaim is not necessary to make a film a hit with the public. The story follows four bachelor best friends who dream of marrying the women of their dreams. Unfortunately, standing in the way of these happy unions are the fathers and brothers of the women, who are intent on marrying them off to the richest suitors. Lots of shenanigans ensue, each more tired and over-the-top than the last, until the heroes and heroines inevitably get their happily ever after, and the audience gets to go home.
Khatta Meetha (Rating: 11%)
A satirical comedy, where Kumar plays Sachin, a road construction businessman, who lacks the money to properly bribe the officials and get his work done. Adding to his woes, the new municipal commissioner is his former girlfriend and is none too eager to do him any favors. Things escalate quickly when a bridge collapses, killing innocents and landing Sachin in trouble.
While well-meaning, the film can’t decide whether it wants to be an out-and-out comedy or biting social commentary. Many of the scenes have the light-hearted wind knocked out of them with too much drama and not enough genuine emotional heft.
Tees Maar Khan (Rating: 11%)
Farah Khan directs Kumar and Katrina Kaif for the first time in a farcical comedy that was brimming with potential. Unfortunately, none of it was realized. Kumar plays daring conman Tees Maar Khan, who pretends to be a famous director in order to rob a village of their wealth. Of course, a comedy of errors ensues, none of it as funny as the soundtrack and overacting would have you believe. The songs are pretty much the only good parts of the whole mess, and Kumar’s natural gift for comedy is wasted in a role that never manages to rise to the heights you feel it should.
Boss (Rating: 0%)
A return to Kumar’s action persona, this time with a comedy twist. Boss is a kind-hearted mobster who operates outside the law but follows his own strict moral code. Things get complicated when his younger brother falls in love with a corrupt police officer’s sister. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Boss needs to use every trick in his book to bring about a happy ending for all concerned parties.
Once again, Kumar fights, jokes, and blasts his way through a film that is too tepid to be a star vehicle and too underwritten to stand on its own. It doesn’t help that only the actor playing the villain’s role appears to be having as much fun as Kumar, leading to too many scenes with flat characters and little emotional engagement.
