Akshay pips SRK, Khans to Bollywood crown

Akshay pips SRK, Khans to Bollywood crown

THE YEAR THAT WAS: Akshay has been the king of 2007 with four runaway hits to his credit.

Mumbai: For Bollywood, 2007 has been a mixed bag. There were some big films which did very well and some which disappointed big time. Here is a look at the report card of the year gone by.

At 42, King Khan and his six pack abs made sure that he gets the maximum eyeballs and as expected it translated into box office figures too.

Om Shanti Om tops the chart with gross collection of Rs 94 crore, followed by another SRK starrer Chak De India.

At third position is Akshay Kumar starrer Welcome, which despite being released at the fag end of the year is giving Om Shanti Om and Chak De India literally a run for their money.

Salman Khan-Govinda starrer Partner too laughed all the way to the bank.

But this year there was a new king at the box office. Cinemax Sion Operations Head, Rakesh Sharma says, "SRK had two releases this year and both have been exceptionally good. But of course Akshay has been the king of 2007 with four runaway hits to his credit. I don't think anybody can compete with Akshay this year."

Four releases — Namaste London, Bhool Bhoolaiyya, Heyy Baby and Welcome and all four big hits — that's the report card of Akshay Kumar, making him the new baap of box-office.

Akshay Kumar says, "When people want to see a film, they follow their own intuition, they follow the promo and they also follow the mood they are in. People want to be happy. So most of them want to enjoy a good comedy film with family and friends."

Comedy surely kept the cash register ringing in 2007. The surprise hit of the year, debutant director Sagar Bellary's Bheja Fry grossed close to Rs 10 crore.

The first week of 2008 doesn't have any releases but first off the block is Ajay Devgan starrer Halla Bol which hits theatres on Januray 11. Here's wishing Bollywood a flop-free new year.