Prospective Analysis
The reason why Khiladi 786 is crucial to Himesh is because it takes his acting career to ‘the next level’ (just like @ Da Edge would take his music career to ‘the next level’).
This is so because he had two scenarios, first to go on making small budget films like Damadamm and continue as a solo hero, or second to expand da horizon and make a big budget multi starrer.
The first option would not be bad, since Damadamm did a 5-6 crore business and made decent profits considering its budget. If he chose to walk this path, then he needed bigger BO collections in excess of 15 crore atleast to make a substantial impact. Yes, AKS – The Moviee did around 16 crore business, but after that, the numbers went into an exponential decline, courtesy due to some timing / external factors beyond Himesh’s control.
But given the big player Himesh is, he went on for the second option.
In doing so, he dug deep down both in financial and creative terms. From a financial perspective, it would not have been that easy or ego friendly for Himesh to ‘ask’ for a role in a multistarrer, so he turned into a producer and ‘offered’ roles to others. From a creative perspective, he turned into a storywriter and came up with a script that was just too tempting for Akshay Kumar to resist. What also helped is their earlier rapport, as Himesh has scored numerous songs/albums for Akki like Hum Ko Deewana Kar Kaye, Phir Hera Pheri and Welcome.
The ‘key’ reason why Khiladi 786 takes Himesh’s acting career forward is because after 5 films over 5 years, he needed to ‘merge with’ the mainstream bollywood and ‘work with’ mainstream actors, because earlier he was working with a lesser renowned support cast. So this is about the 'universal acceptance' of Himesh into mainstream bollywood. But in Khiladi 786, he will now be sharing screen space with seasoned veterans like Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor and Paresh Rawal.
Music wise, it should be a full on massy score with killer opening track, along with hip hip RnB and peppy rhythmic melodies that go well with the Action Comedy genre.
So, all in all, it was an ‘ace’ move by Himesh the producer / script writer / actor to come up and convince Akki for the reincarnation of the ‘Khiladi’ series, considering the fact that the title rights lay with Akshay himself.
With all due respect to Rehman saab’s music, Himesh – the composer / singer will leave no stone unturned to come up with an album that would have the charts blazing. As far as Himesh – the actor is concerned, well this time around he just got himself the some serious back up so that ‘muqabla barabari aur takkar ka ho’, unlike last time which was Ra.One vs Damadamm, whereby star power won over content.
Khiladi 786 promises to be a mass entertainer and nothing short of an extravaganza, and its success would open up vast immense opportunities for Himesh – the actor whereby his career would blossom even further, including a scope of a Khiladi sequel which could be turned into a franchise so to speak.
The 'Akshay Kumar' factor
Khiladi 786 looks to be unstoppable...because Akshay Kumar has two mega and most awaited films before Khiladi 786 releases...Prabhu Deva's ACTION flick Rowdy Rathode who made super hit Wanted with Sallu Mia...and Sajid Khan's COMEDY flick HOUSEFUL 2 who made the blockbuster Houseful...going by da trending and trade prediction of both these films are ideally going to set da cash registers ringing and do bumper business at the ticketing window, whereby Akshay Kumar will be right up there at da top in terms of star value...and its SPILLOVER effect will vastly benefit da opening of Khiladi 786 which is an ACTION COMEDY...fingers crossed, da signs look ominous for Himesh's next production whereby Himesh - the actor will be in serious business.