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Khans, step aside: 2017 is Akshay Kumar 2.0's year

There's an unspoken understanding that a man should always listen to his biwi if he has to do things right. Twinkle Khanna, in the latest season of Koffee With Karan, said that she gave an ultimatum to her husband Akshay Kumar that if Akshay did not do "sensible films", she would not have a second chid with him.

Clearly, Akshay Kumar took that threat to heart because not only was the couple's second child Nitara born in 2012, but thereafter, Akshay's films showed a marked improvement in quality. Where once there was a phase when Akshay would star in films like Thank You, Joker, Khiladi 786 and Boss, today, Akshay Kumar has both commercial success AND critical acclaim because of films like Special 26, Holiday, Baby, Airlift and Rustom.

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Akshay was always perfect as the righteous, macho hero with great flair for comic timing. He has played the upright man's man from the beginning of his career in films like Mohra, Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Elaan. Later on, he found his funnybones (no pun intended) with the Priyadarshan comedies (Hera Pheri, Garam Masala) and the occasional Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.

But as Akshay's stardom and fan following grew in stature, the actor began to take up films that combined the histrionics of '80s maar-dhaar waale films and the abysmal sense of humour that South-potboilers have. Hence, you had something Rowdy Rathore directed by Prabhu Deva, which worked at the box office, no doubt about that but after two decades in the industry, was minor commercial success all that Akshay was looking forward to in his career? Wasn't he good enough for tracing the heights that his contemporaries Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman had? Wasn't he as adventurous as the younger kids like Ranbir Kapoor and Varun Dhawan who were showing considerable bravery in doing projects like Barfi! and Badlapur?

Damn right, he was. Akshay just was not ready, for whatever reason. But now, he is.

After a humble cameo in what Twinkle would call a 'sensible' film, OMG-Oh My God!, Akshay starred in Neeraj Pandey's tight, gripping crime-caper Special 26. Note that, Akshay was not doing anything different in Special 26 terms of acting; he was still playing an upright professional (albeit, in the world of conning people), but this time, he had with him a no-nonsense writer-director and a bunch of good actors who gave their best and simultaneously accentuated Akshay's core strengths as an actor. As a result, Special 26 was not only a hit but people sat up and took notice of Akshay as an actor, not just a performer.

The Neeraj Pandey-Akshay Kumar team went on to produce Baby in 2015 and Rustom in 2016 - two films which used Akshay's full potential as an intense, action-oriented actor - which further propelled Khiladi Kumar to a new phase of super-stardom that he had never tasted in his career.

Now, having understood his full capability as an actor and star, Akshay has joined hands with the best filmmakers in town to produce (what looks on paper like) films with great potential.

First up in 2017, there is Akshay Kumar's Jolly LLB 2, directed by Subhash Kapoor, where Akshay plays a bufoonish lawyer who soon enough grows a conscience and fights it out inside the courtroom against a rich lawyer played by National Award-winning actor Annu Kapoor. This is the kind of film nobody in his right mind would have expected Akshay to be in in his Khiladi 786 days.

Next up, is the tri-lingual film 2.0, where Akshay plays a villainous ornithologist who locks horns with Rajinikanth, no less. This film would provide Akshay with a much-needed pan-Indian following in addition to being a good showcase for Akshay's potential to play theatrically evil villains.

Then, there are the two social dramas, Toilet - Ek Prem Katha and Padman. While R Balki's (Cheeni Kum, Paa) Padman will feature Akshay play Arunachalam Muruganantham, the man who devoted his life to making low-cost sanitary napkins for India's rural women. Meanwhile, Toilet - Ek Prem Katha is touted to be a social satire revolving around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

It was Aamir Khan who showed the potential of cinema where one could marry star status with good, earnest storytelling to make progressive but commercial cinema for one and all. Now, Akshay Kumar is taking that road to produce some quality films. In fact, there is also Akshay's Crack with Neeraj Pandey and the sports drama Gold with Talaash director Reema Kagti in the pipeline.

If Akshay's experimentation with films work out this year - and it is most likely that they would - we will have a new megastar in our midst, in addition to the Khans - someone more than his Khiladi image, an Akshay Kumar 2.0.

(The writer tweets as @devarsighosh.)