Akshay Kumar, the man who can give Tom Cruise a run for his money, will turn 49 today! The man for whom daredevil stunts are like a cakewalk is nearing fifty, but he hardly looks like he is slowing down, delivering three films this year till now and making all of them hits!
It’s not easy delivering a hit these days, as Shah Rukh Khan, but Akshay Kumar has shown that it is a cakewalk for him, with Airlift, Housefull 3 and Rustom all being hits. What’s interesting is that all the three films are in different genres, and none of them are action flicks, something Akshay Kumar is known for the ’90s.
Everyone knows Akshay Kumar is often referred to as Khiladi Kumar. Khiladi was Akshay Kumar’s first true blue hot and he did a slew of films that had Khiladi in the title, like Sabse Bada Khiladi, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, Khiladi 420, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, International Khiladi, Khiladi 786. Though he has started doing more serious content-driven stuff like Special 26 and Baby, there is still a Khiladi in his characters! But he did try out to change his image in various other avatars, with varying degrees of success. Here are ten instances, when Akshay Kumar went for a different makeover!
A nerd…
The man who is the epitome of macho-ness played a nerd in Shirish Kunder’s Jaan-e-mann, that too complete with braces, big specs and bushy hair. Yet, he turned out to be one of the best things about this romcom gone wrong. Apart from Salman Khan’s drag act, that is!
A wife-killing villain…
If you are hero, you can also convincingly play a villain as well! Ask the late Heath Ledger (Joker from The Dark Knight) or Shah Rukh Khan (Darr, Anjaam). Akshay Kumar played a chilling, manipulative antagonist in Ajnabee, who didn’t mind killing his wife and putting the blame on someone else, only to hoard her insurance money! It won him his first Filmfare award for the Best Villain that year! He also later played a villain in Tasveer 8X10, Blue and Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara!.
A comic sidekick
I believe, more than Hera Pheri, it was Khakee that rejuvenated Akshay Kumar’s film career. The actor finally got to shine his comic skills in a film where there is no Paresh Rawal to steal the scenes. And he was not even the movie’s main lead – it was Amitabh Bachchan! Too bad he gets killed, just when we were beginning to root for him!
An English cricketer
If our superstars would have to play a cricketer, they would have chosen to be the captain of the Indian team only. But Akshay Kumar chose a different path, as he played a match-winning spinner for the English Cricket team. Moreover, he also played a wimpy son to his strict Sardar dad, played with enough ferocity by Rishi Kapoor!
A parodied version of himself
How many actors in Bollywood have the guts to make a fool of themselves and their perceived image on screen? Akshay Kumar has that, and he made a parody of himself, not once, but a couple of times. There’s that iconic cameo in Om Shanti Om, which threatened to steal the scene away from SRK, and the alcoholic arrogant alter-ego of himself in last year’s comedy, The Shaukeens. Plus, he also rocked as himself in a single scene appearance in the Riteish Deshmukh – Jacqueline Fernandez alien comedy Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai. Please make a Bollywood spoof with him as a lead! Or just make The Return of Khiladi, as teased in Om Shanti Om!
A God!
Playing God was almost like a risk, since actors who played gods in films, like Arun Govil, Nitish Bharadwaj, Vikram Gokhale, never had great careers in leading roles. But Akshay Kumar took that risk and what we got was one of the coolest avatars of Krishna in the 21st century. And I still keep on playing that flute tune whenever I feel depressed!
A gay playboy
Can any of the big stars have the guts to play a flamboyant gay playboy that Akshay Kumar did in Dishoom, never mind if it was for laughs? Despite the risks associated with the role, Akshay was careful enough to not make it a caricature, and his two scenes are easily the best part of the film.
An elephant
Not an actual elephant, but Akshay Kumar had voiced for one in the animated flick, Jumbo.
Second fiddle to Aryeman Ramsay
This would be one role that not only Akshay Kumar but even his fans would want to forget. After winning hearts in Khakee, Akshay Kumar agreed to be a part of Rajkumar Santoshi’s next, Family. Unfortunately, it was just a lauchpad for the producer’s son Aryeman Ramsay, in which Akshay died in the middle of the film, and we have the bear this lack of talent for the rest of the film
A snake
Yeah, bros! Akshay Kumar has done what no Khan has done in their careers – played a snake! Okay, a snake-possessed human, on the lines of what Sridevi played in Naginaand its sequel, Nigahein. The movie was named Hatya, a film made in 1994 but got released in 2004, and if you are right now scratching your head and trying to remember when this event happened, fret not! Even Akshay Kumar doesn’t want to remember this monstrosity, and he had a hell of time forgetting Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahaani!
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