Akshay Kumar turns 50, his Toilet – Ek Prem Katha crosses Rowdy Rathore to emerge his biggest ever

September 9, 2017 - 7:27 PM IST

There couldn't have been a better timed birthday gift for Akshay Kumar. On the eve of him turning 50, his Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, which has been in the running for four weeks now, has netted Rs. 133.60 crore at the Box Office. With this, the film has now turned out to be officially the biggest grosser ever for the superstar since in the process it has gone past the lifetime numbers of Rowdy Rathore [Rs. 133 crore] which held this record for five years.

Akshay Kumar turns 50, his Toilet – Ek Prem Katha crosses Rowdy Rathore to emerge his biggest ever

"There is a huge difference though between Rowdy Rathore and Toilet – Ek Prem Katha. Former was a 'masala' entertainer which came at a time when such South remakes ruled. It had chartbuster songs as well and the action-humour quotient further helped the cause. On the other hand, Toilet – Ek Prem Katha is a social flick and didn't have any precedent whatsoever. It had to work 'apnedum par' and that too on a subject (sanitation) that is typically relegated to documentaries and that too for bare minimum audience," says an insider.

However, it was the conviction of Akshay Kumar in the subject as well as the fact that producers KriArj Entertainment thought that this story had immense commercial potential which made Toilet – Ek Prem Katha find its way from inception to release. No wonder, those behind the Shree Narayan Singh directed film are quite happy with the milestone that Toilet – Ek Prem Katha has managed to cross.

"Let me be very candid here, I was quite certain about it right from the beginning that this film will turn out to be a milestone. I have never been the one to mince any words," smiles Prernaa Arora of KriArj, "Of course we are looking at many more hits now. We also have PadMan coming up with Akshay sir."

As for the manner in which Akshay Kumar has emerged as Mr. Consistent at the Box Office, this is what Girish Johar, film business analyst, has to say, "Akshay Kumar has been consistently doing three to four films for the past so many years and that is a commendable feat, which no other star actor has achieved. On top of it, selecting the right stories, the right set up, the right different genres and placing them smartly takes a humongous effort. He has done all of this with élan and has been successful too."

He goes on to add, "Public and trade look forward to all his films with equal excitement always. All his hard-work is bearing fruit now and I am sure he is still not resting on his laurels but gunning for more."

That could well be true, what with four of his upcoming films in different stages of production. These are 2.0, PadMan, Gold and Moghul.

"Well, I am proud and privileged that KriArj is part of this collaboration with Akshay sir at such an early stage of our career. We have managed to deliver two hits with Akshay sir in the form of Rustom and Toilet – Ek Prem Katha. We are so proud of it and want to score a hat-trick with PadMan now," says Prernaa before signing off.