Akshay Kumar is a creature of habit.
From the 'khiladi' brand of movies rocking his boat to a love for starring in biopics and scripts inspired by true stories to headlining endless remakes of South Indian hits, there's a pattern to the man and his methods.
Unsurprisingly then, his latest Sarfira is a remake of the 2020 Suriya vehicle, Soorarai Pottru.
Director Sudha Kongara is at the helm of its Hindi remake as well, which revolves around a single man's determination to build a low cost airline against all odds.
The Tamil original won tons of accolades, including five National Awards. Will Sarfira follow suit? July 12 will tell.
Until then, Sukanya Verma rates Akki's history of recycled South Indian fare.
Bachchhan Pandey (2022)
Karthik Subbaraj's Tamil cult classic, Jigarthanda made a splash with its genre bending tale of what follows when a short film maker gets up, close and personal with the dangerous subject of his movie, a deadly gangster.
But its over-the-top Bollywood remake is so far removed from the content and intent of the original, it completely misses the point.
Akshay Kumar's caricature-like portrayal of a frantic mind only makes a hash of things.
Cuttputlli (2022)
Akshay slips on his khaki uniform for the nth time to lead a hill station police procedural in pursuit of a serial killer leaving behind a trail of brutally murdered teenage girls.
The actor's subdued delivery is easily the best thing about an otherwise flimsy remake of Ram Kumar's Tamil thriller Ratsasan.
Laxmii (2020)
Nothing good comes out of Akshay's loud, lousy remake of the 2011 Tamil horror comedy, Kanchana.
It's a fairly curious premise wherein a trans woman's wronged spirit seeks righteous retribution by possessing a man even as the latter's terror-stricken family goes through the mandatory jump scares and shockwaves.
Save for Sharad Kelkar's valiant efforts, there's nothing remotely salvageable about Laxmii's cringe-inducing farce.
Gabbar is Back (2015)
Akshay gets into vigilant mode, singularly taking on rampant corruption, in a classic lost-in-translation remake of the 2002 Tamil hit Ramanaa.
One-man army tearing down the dishonest bandwagon is enough to tell how worn-out the whole idea is. And neither Akshay nor his grisly beard can infuse fresh life in its done-to-death antics.
Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty (2014)
Though the A R Murugadoss-directed Holiday and Thuppakki were conceived as a bilingual, the Tamil version led by Vijay called dibs first.
Its plot centres on an intelligence officer's pursuit of trailing and terminating dangerous sleeper cells.
While Akshay is his reliable self, Holiday's hare-brained logic failed to garner much love among critics.
Boss (2013)
Boss is the sort of masala we foolishly believed had ceased to exist since the 1980s.
But Akshay dons a Haryanvi twang, multiple rings and a fake frown to remind us otherwise in this crummy rehash of Malayalam masala Pokkiri Raja about a misunderstood man's relationship with his father and father figure.
Rowdy Rathore (2012)
Two moustached Akshay Kumars take on baddies in an overdone, outlandish, offensive mishmash of standard potboiler elements in the hit Rowdy Rathore.
The credit for this bombastic brand of entertainment goes to Telugu film-maker S S Rajamouli whose trademark indulgences worked favourably in the box office winner, Vikramarkudu.
Khatta Meetha (2010)
Priyadarshan's reworking of his own acclaimed Malayalam dramedy, Vellanakalude Nadu is far too affected, lengthy and dated to pull off the merits of its original.
Audiences too didn't care much for Akshay's umbrella-lugging portrayal of the 'common man.'
Kambakkht Ishq (2009)
Kamal Haasan and Simran's war of the sexes in Tamil rom-com Pammal K Sambandam acts as the inspiration for snooty Akshay and size zero Kareena Kapoor's ugly fights in Kambakkht Ishq.
Its lewd, sexist humour takes away the focus from its Hollywood, Sylvester Stallone-underscored backdrop, which rightly received a thumping thumbs down from all and sundry.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007)
Priyadarshan revamps the acclaimed Malayalam psychological thriller, Manichitrathazhu to produce part comic, part horror attributes of Bhool Bhulaiyaa.
While Vidya Balan sure made an unnerving impression as Manjulika and Akshay's loony doctor has its moments, no adaptation comes close to Fazil's masterful, mind-boggling original.
Bhagam Bhag (2006)
Priyadarshan reworks Mani C Kappan's Malayalam comic thriller Mannar Mathai Speaking as Bhagam Bhag.
Despite the evergreen potential in the comedy of errors following a desi drama troupe's arrival in London and the combined comic brilliance of Akshay and Govinda's skills, the movie's bumpy narrative never lets it become more than a sum of its parts.
Garam Masala (2005)
Priyadarshan digs into yet another of his old cult classics to cook up Garam Masala,
In this Boeing Boeing remake, a 1980s Malayalam comedy starring Mohanlal and Mukesh, the director ropes in Akshay, John Abraham and Paresh Rawal to engage in a comedy of juggling three air hostesses by an incorrigible flirt, his buddy-in-crime and their flighty cook.
Hera Pheri (2000)
The Priyan-Akki combo has collaborated on several (okay ONLY) remakes but Hera Pheri, a remake of the 1989 Malayalam comedy Ramji Rao Speaking scores mighty high.
Akshay's breakthrough performance as the unemployed imp ribbing his humble roomie Suniel Shetty when not tricking hyper landlord Paresh Rawal, the hilarious turn of events triggered by a wrong number is now stuff of Bollywood pop-culture legend.
