Great that Rs 1,000 crore is a benchmark, hope we make Rs 2000-3000 crore films: Akshay Kumar

Mumbai: The commercial success of recent Hindi movies "Jawan" and "Gadar 2" is good for the film industry, says superstar Akshay Kumar, who hopes the benchmark for a blockbuster would be "Rs 2000-3000 crore" in future.

The Hindi film industry was severely impacted by the COVID pandemic as theatres were shut and even after the opening of the cinemas the box office collections were affected until early this year. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's "Pathaan" and "Jawan" as well as Sunny Deol's "Gadar 2" have brought back the charm of the big screen experience.

"I hope the industry gives more and more hits. I was very happy when Shah Rukh Khan's 'Jawan' did so much business. There are many other films like 'Gadar 2', 'OMG 2', which also did well. So, it’s very good for the industry," the 56-year-old told PTI in a group interview here.

"It's a great thing that Rs 1,000 crore is a benchmark. I also hope that we make Rs 2000-3000 crore films. Then we can also make Hollywood (kind of) films. The kind of cinema, the screenplay, the script that we have they don't have (it)," Akshay added.

The actor-producer believes commercial success is important to continue making content-driven films like his latest release, "Mission Raniganj".

According to the makers, the film is inspired by the "heroic act of Jaswant Singh Gill who led Bharat's coal mine rescue mission." "Commercial success is important because you have to make other films (content driven) but it also depends on what kind of commercial success you will get.

"Like, 'Mission Raniganj' is made on a certain budget, and I want to call 'Mission Raniganj' a commercial film. It is not like a 'Jawan' or a 'Rowdy Rathore'. It’s not that kind of film, it has a niche audience but I hope it does good business," Kumar added.

The rescue thriller, which hit theatres on Friday, is directed by Tinu Suresh Desai, who had helmed “Rustom”, for which Akshay won the Best Actor National Award.

The actor said he is happy with the response he has been getting for "Mission Raniganj".

“I am getting validation from my wife. She has watched it and she said, ‘You are getting great reviews. It is an award-winning performance, I am so proud of you’. Family and friends are going to like it. What counts for me is the people, the public liking the film is important. It is great to see good reviews coming out,” he added.

Days before the release of the film, the makers had unveiled the motion poster of “Mission Raniganj” with the tagline ‘The Great Bharat Rescue’ on social media. The title reveal of the movie had come amid the India-Bharat naming controversy.

When asked what was the reason to change the tagline of the film (from India to Bharat) Kumar said, “Is Bharat a wrong name? India is also not wrong, it is perfectly right. We did it (changed the tagline) because it is a great name.”

The film also features Parineeti Chopra, Kumud Mishra, Pavan Malhotra, Ravi Kishan, Varun Badola, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rajesh Sharma, Virendra Saxena, Shishir Sharma, Ananth Mahadevan, Jameel Khan, Sudhir Pandey, Bachan Pachera, Mukesh Bhatt, and Omkar Das Manikpuri.