Web Desk
NEW DELHI: Akshay Kumar’s Selfiee performed astonishingly low on its first day at the box office with an opening of Rs 2.55 crore, and it hasn’t done wonders on its second day either. According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the film earned Rs 3.80 crore on its second day, which is a slight improvement, but not a marked one. This brings the total to Rs 6.35 crore
Considering the film has a star-studded cast that also features Emraan Hashmi and is backed by Karan Johar, no less, the movie was expected to make more money at the ticket counter. Barring Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan, which crossed the Rs 1000 crore mark worldwide, it appears as if Bollywood is once again in the weeds as even the last week’s release, Shehzada, tanked at the box office.
Akshay Kumar’s recent flop comes as a surprise to trade experts, who had predicted at least an opening of Rs 4-5 crore for Selfiee. Selfiee is a remake of the Malayalam drama Driving License. It starred actors Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu in the lead roles and was a commercial hit.
Moreover, Selfiee was panned by critics. The Indian Express’ Shalini Langer wrote in her review of Selfiee, “This film has an interesting premise but it is never allowed to overshadow its larger-than-life hero Akshay Kumar himself.” Selfiee marks Akshay Kumar’s fifth flop in a row, after Bachchhan Paandey, Samrat Prithviraj, Raksha Bandhan and Ram Setu. Last year, Bollywood had suffered numerous flops, with only a handful of hits, and it seems as if the pattern would be repeated once again.
Akshay Kumar’s last hit was Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi, which featured Katrina Kaif, and Ajay Devgn, and Ranveer Singh in extended cameos. The actor had seemed almost invincible prior to the pandemic, with a string of successes, mostly in the patriotic drama genre.
