bollywood

Updated: Jan 26, 2016 17:19 IST

His films maybe churning crores at the box office but Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar claims that Bollywood is not a profitable and wealthy industry. Riding high on the success of his latest release, Airlift, Akshay says, “I hope this (good box office collection) continues every week because people have this misconception that the industry is a ‘sone ki chidiya’ (golden bird). According to me, this industry is striving on very few hits. I hope the industry receives several hits because this industry has the capability to give you a lot. But at the moment, the industry is going through loss.”

Read: Airlift review

Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur at Air India headquarters in New Delhi to promote their Airlift. (PTI)

According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, Airliftcollected Rs 54.70 crore at the box office within first four days of its release. With an estimated budget of Rs 30 crore, the film is going great at the ticket windows.

#Airlift is SUPERB on Mon. Today [26 Jan] should be TERRIFIC. Fri 12.35 cr, Sat 14.60 cr, Sun 17.35 cr, Mon 10.40 cr. Total: ₹ 54.70 cr. — taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 26, 2016

Akshay has been one of the consistent performers at the box office over the years, delivering at least 3-4 films a year. While most of his films do well, even the ones which don’t live up to expectations recover costs.

Akshay Kumar in a still from Gabbar Is Back. (YouTube grab)

Last year, all of his four films -- Baby, Brothers, Gabbar Is Back and Singh Is Bling -- earned close to Rs.100 crore at the box office. He said it would be great if Airlift is declared tax-free but said he wasn’t aware of such a development till now. Also being a producer of the film, he said, “I’m very happy that I got this opportunity of this lovely script that came in my hand, and to produce the film. I can’t express my happiness. If I could, I would jump with joy that people have loved this film, enjoyed it and appreciated it.”

“I would like to thank all people who have appreciated this film, because such films usually reach only a certain point like 40 crore to 60 crore, because such films don’t have songs, there’s no commerciality or item song and no comedy. And taking this film to this level itself is due to the sensible people.”

Akshay Kumar will next be seen in Housefull 3 along with Riteish Deshmukh and Abhishek Bachchan.

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