Akki settles for newcomers

Mumbai: He may be considered one of the biggest stars of Bollywood with his films raking in moolah one after another, but Akshay seems to be in a tight spot nonetheless.

Of late, the actor has done a number of films with Sonakshi Sinha. Reason? The likes of Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra being busy with their own films have no dates to spare for Akshay's films. Among these names, barring Deepika, all of them have worked with him in the past. But now, the actor who had once mentored these beauties, seems to have been abandoned by them.

We hear none of the top heroines were available for Akki's next films It's Entertainment, Shaukeen and Singh Is Bling. Probably that's why he had to settle for less popular names like Tamannaah Bhatia, Lisa Haydon and Kriti Sanon. "Akshay's pairing with Sonakshi has reached a point of saturation.

The fact that no other actress besides her has been paired with him in the last two years explains Akshay's dilemma in finding leading ladies for his films," says a trade analyst.

According to insiders, A-lister actresses refrain from working with AK because they fear their role will get chopped at the editing table. "In Akshay's films such as Boss, Once Upon A time In Mumbaai Dobaara, Rowdy Rathore to name a few, the actresses were reduced to mere props," says our source.

For his next, Singh Is Bling, Akshay tried his best to rope in Kareena, Katrina and Priyanka but had to settle down for newcomer Kriti Sanon. While his counterpart Salman, too, is settling for Sonam Kapoor, Jaqueline Fernandes and Nargis Fakhri, they are still more sought after names than Akshay's fleet of newcomers.