Akshay Kumar ‘owns’ Independence Day

The great Indian holiday weekends are now squarely and sharply booked. As the entire entertainment industry knows, the festival of Eid is reserved for Salman Khan starrers. Shah Rukh Khans films are released during Diwali, while Aamir Khan’s films are scheduled for Christmas. And now, Akshay Kumar has taken over the long, box office-friendly Independence Day weekend.

In 2015, Akshay’s Brothers released on August 13. In 2016, Rustom, which released on August 12, has already earned over `90 crore. Akshay has now teamed up with producer-director Neeraj Pandey for Crack, which has been scheduled to release on Independence Day next year.

Trade pundit Taran Adarsh welcomes the trend of superstars patenting public holidays as their release date. “Actors, along with their respective film producers/Studios, are eyeing holidays plus extended weekends. That helps the film recover a big chunk of money during the initial weekend itself and continue the glorious run if the film is accepted by moviegoers beyond the weekend, too.”

Says trade analyst Atul Mohan, “Well, you can say Akshay is the new Manoj Kumar — the patriotic hero of our times — after Baby, Gabbar Is Back, Airlift and Rustom. It’s not that Akshay has discovered this new release strategy now. If you look closely, his major films have coincided with Republic Day or Independence Day weekends from the beginning of his career.”