Akshay a threat to Shah Rukh

Shahrukh Khan may be the most popular Bollywood star overseas but Akshay Kumar is fast catching up with the 'King Khan' ! This is evident from the fact that last a few years have seen several Akshay Kumar-starrers figure in the top ten charts in the United Kingdom.

While 'Ek Rishta', released a few years ago, figured in the UK top ten in its opening weeks, another film featuring the new "Mr Dependable" of the Mumbai film industry, 'Suneil Darshan's 'Andaz' was an above average grosser in UK.

The year 2004 also saw the Akshay Kumar Salman-Khan starrer 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' make waves in the United Kingdom.

Finally, the year 2005 saw a host of films starring Akshay Kumar make a mark in UK, which has made him a star to reckon with in the overseas territory. Last year saw five films featuring the actor make it to the top ten charts in the UK in their opening weeks.

Further, one of his films, Vipul Shah's 'Waqt-A race Against time' is among the top ten grosser from Bollywood during the year 2005.

Infact, Vipul Shah's 'Waqt-A race against Time' was the second best grosser overseas last year with collections of nearly Rs 11 crore.

The ''brilliant comic sense of timing'' of the actor and the new teenage heartthrob John Abraham's ''cool dude'' act in 'Garam Masala' contributed to the film turning out to be the biggest Bollywood hit in UK last year, trade sources said.

The movie did excellent business in both the US and the UK.

Infact, the advent of 'Garam Masala' made a severe dent in collections of Boney Kapoor's' No Entry', which was doing good business in UK before the release of the Akshay John-starrer.