With an opening day of only Rs 2.40 crore, Akshay Kumar’s latest film, Sarfira significantly made less than the previous release, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, which opened at Rs 16.07 crore.

Sarfira's Disappointing Box Office Debut:

Akshay Kumar’s next film, Sarfira, a Hindi remake of the acclaimed 2020 film Soorarai Pottru, was released in theatres on July 12 with minimal notice. Sarfira is directed by Sudha Kongara, who also directed the original film starring Suriya, Sarfira tells the narrative of Capt Gopinath, the creator of India’s first budget airline. However, the film’s box office result has been disappointing. According to Sacnilk, Sarfira earned only Rs 2.40 crore on its first day, a stark contrast to Akshay’s previous big release, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, which debuted with Rs 16.07 crore but eventually fizzled with a lifetime total of Rs 59.17 crore.

Intermittent Success for Akshay Kumar:

In recent years, Akshay’s box office success has been intermittent, with only Sooryavanshi and OMG 2 standing out as successes. Sarfira is his lowest opening since 2009’s 8X10 Tasveer, which grossed at Rs 1.8 crore. This amount is also lower than the openers for Mission Raniganj (Rs 2.8 crore), Selfiee (Rs 2.5 crore), and even Bell Bottom (Rs 2.7 crore), released during the pandemic. Other recent failures like Bachchhan Paandey and Ram Setu yet grossed Rs 13 crore and Rs 15 crore respectively on their opening days.

Lessons from Amitabh Bachchan on Resilience:

Sarfira had a 13.08 per cent occupancy on its first day. In Mumbai, with 472 shows, occupancy was 14%, while in Delhi and NCR, with 570 shows, it was 11.75. Along with Akshay, the film also stars Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal, and Seema Biswas. 

Reflecting on his present business issues, Akshay Kumar recalled Amitabh Bachchan's comments from a recent interview I’ve seen people who work selectively, and their films flop as well. In our industry, what happens is that people stop offering you work if you deliver flops. Look at Mr Bachchan. He was the one who told me, ‘Akshay, kaam karte rehna beta. Kaam ko mat chhorna (Akshay, don’t turn down work). I learned this from him… Calculation is wrong, and manipulation is wrong. Honesty is right, creativity is right. Believing in your luck is right. This is what I’ve learned.