Combine the shots together and you have Team Speak Up wondering whether Akshay Kumar is Bollywood's new number one.
Take 1: Movie-goers in Pakistan watching Singh is Kinng in a cinema hall as early as 7am.
Take 2: A Mumbai multiplex runs 28 shows a day of the film.
Take 3: Akshay Kumar says he needs 15 more years to become the undisputed King of Bollywood.
Combine the shots together and you have Team Speak Up wondering whether Akshay Kumar is Bollywood's new number one. But what do industry insiders have to say about the man who went from being a waiter in Bangkok to becoming one of Bollywood's biggest success stories?
"Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay share the throne. It's unbelievable how he first excelled in action, then romance and now even comedy. You might as well call him the all- rounder of Bollywood," says Taran Adarsh the trade analyst who is of the opinion that success become a habit for the star.
With the opening weekend gross ticket sales of Singh is Kinng in India at Rs45 crore across 1400 screens, the film has broken all previous records. And if these numbers don't impress you, let's also tell you that Akshay's film is the only one that opens at multiplexes at unearthly hours of the morning. That is if you don't count the southern screen icon, the great Rajnikanth.
If there's one person who knows how Akshay has grown in terms of raking in the moolah at the box office, it has to be Ratan Jain, the producer of Khiladi, which is considered to be Akshay's first biggest hit. "I made the film 18 years ago when the business of films was very different. The man has gone through several ups and downs since then," he says. But what makes him stand out? What is Akshay's USP? "It's easy to do a good job when you make one film in two years. And Akshay, unlike other top actors, has consistently been doing at least three-four films every year, all of which are hits," says Jain who is excited about producing a film starring Akshay, directed by Priyadarshan called De Dana Dan. But is Singh King? Or will King Khan hang on to his crown tenaciously? "This isn't tennis where you can have a no.1. I think Aamir and Kumar are both on the top," says film critic Indu Mirani. The last word comes from director Mahesh Bhatt who believes that Akshay has come to become a force to reckon with. "He has peaked so high only because of the several years of struggle," says the filmmaker. All eyes now are on SRK's next big release, Billoo Barber, due this Diwali.
m_irani@dnaindia.net 
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