Akshay Kumar is among the busiest actors in Bollywood and has a knack to be a part of multiple releases each year. Through the course of his career, he has been a part of some of India’s most loved films, few of which have the potential to be spun into franchises or be developed further. There is emphasis being put on franchises and universes because the audience today needs a bang for their buck and if it’s a film part of a reputed intellectual property, it inadvertently becomes a must watch. These films have goodwill since they are the films that have resonated with viewers and have become part of pop-culture. Akshay Kumar has around 12 films that are already a franchise or have the potential to become franchises.
Following are the Akshay Kumar films that are franchises or can become franchises:
1. Khiladi:
The Khiladi franchise is one of Akshay Kumar’s earliest franchises. It gave him the nickname of ‘The Khiladi of Bollywood’. The actor has been part of numerous films of the ‘Khiladi’ origin, the last one being Khiladi 786. Khiladi films are high on action and have subtle humour in them. Although the franchise has been a hit and a miss on the commercial front, it is safe to say that it has enough mileage to work for the audiences of today.
2. Hera Pheri:
Hera Pheri is hands down one of the funniest films from Bollywood. The Hera Pheri franchise consists of two films, both of which are extremely popular among netizens. Memes of the films are used daily and that has given it a lot of authority. The makers have been trying to make the third part for a while now but it is under legal hassle. We would hope that the legal issues are sorted so that we have more films from the franchise.
3. Welcome:
Welcome is one of those films that instantly worked for audiences, unlike Hera Pheri which eventually became a cult. The characters in Welcome are now household names. Welcome had a sequel named Welcome Back which didn’t have Akshay Kumar as a protagonist. However, the third part of the franchise is now in pre-production with him making a comeback into the franchise. It has been titled Welcome To The Jungle and it will release on Christmas 2024. It will be interesting to see how the film resonates with the audience since a lot of the iconic characters have been replaced by new ones.
4. Awara Pagal Deewana:
The fun comic caper of the early 2000s had Akshay essay the role of Guru Gulab Khatri. The film was liked at the time of its release but over time, it also gained a cult for itself. Much like Hera Pheri, the sequel has been in contention for a while but it is sadly under legal hassle.
5. Baby
6. Holiday
7. Special 26
8. OMG
9. Rowdy Rathore
10. Housefull
11. Sooryavanshi
12. Jolly LLB
