Akshay Kumar’s “Sarfira,” the Hindi remake of the National Award-winning 2020 film “Soorarai Pottru,” was released in cinemas on July 12 with minimal publicity. Directed by Sudha Kongara, who also helmed the critically acclaimed original film starring Suriya, “Sarfira” is based on the life of Capt Gopinath, the founder of India’s first low-cost airline. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, “Sarfira” earned only Rs 2.40 crore on its opening day. These figures are significantly lower than Akshay’s last major film, “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan,” which earned Rs 16.07 crore on its first day but was declared a flop with a lifetime nett collection of Rs 59.17 crore.
Akshay has struggled at the box office in recent years; apart from “Sooryavanshi” and “OMG 2,” he has not had any major hits. Data from Bollywood Hungama indicates that “Sarfira” delivered his lowest box office debut since 2009’s “8X10 Tasveer,” which opened to Rs 1.8 crore. The Rs 2.4 crore debut of “Sarfira” falls short of “Mission Raniganj’s” Rs 2.8 crore opening, “Selfiee’s” Rs 2.5 crore debut, and the Rs 2.7 crore that mid-pandemic release “BellBottom” opened with. Even Akshay’s recent flops, “Bachchhan Paandey” and “Ram Setu,” managed to earn Rs 13 crore and Rs 15 crore, respectively, on their opening days.
“Sarfira” saw an overall occupancy of 13.08 percent on its first day. In Mumbai, with 472 shows, the film had an occupancy rate of 14 percent. In Delhi and NCR, with 570 shows, the occupancy was 11.75 percent. Alongside Akshay, “Sarfira” features Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal, and Seema Biswas in key roles.
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Five years ago, Akshay delivered four Rs 200 crore hits in a single year, but he has since experienced a slump, with seven recent films underperforming. In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, Akshay discussed this challenging period and said, “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, manipulation is wrong. Honesty is right, creativity is right. Believing in your luck is right. This is what I’ve learned.”
The Akshay Kumar-starrer also faces competition from Kamal Haasan’s highly anticipated “Indian 2” (Hindustani 2), which was also released on July 12. Meanwhile, Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, and Deepika Padukone’s “Kalki 2898 AD” continues to captivate audiences. Released on June 27, “Kalki 2898 AD” earned Rs 5.25 crore on its third Friday (July 12), bringing its three-week total to Rs 548.60 crore.