All the hype in the world may go to event films, but Akshay puts it this way: people still come for the heart. He has no time for the idea that you need to put on a spectacle to be a hit. Put some romance, some honest acting and the right kind of music in front of them and you’ll do better at the box office than any pyrotechnics.
What Akshay Kumar is really saying
There’s been some talk in the industry about what it takes to succeed, and Akshay has put his two cents in. ‘If it is in the destiny of the film, it runs successfully one way or the other,’ he says. No formula. When the content is there, the crowd will go for the feeling, not the fireworks.
Saiyaara is his Exhibit A. You had a romantic drama with new kids on the block like Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda and they didn’t go for the flash. It was all in the craft and the melodies. ‘There was no event,’ is how he puts it. ‘It is just that its songs worked, and the romance in the film worked.’
Saiyaara upended the rulebook
A Mohit Suri film from Yash Raj Films, with some fresh faces in front of the camera, and it made waves. Word of mouth, a good playlist and some on-screen rapport were enough to make it bankable, which is something you don’t often hear when we’re used to only the multi-starrers and franchise tentpoles being safe bets in theatres.
The numbers tell the story. In 2025, Saiyaara was one of the top Hindi blockbusters. It’s the third highest-grossing of the year and the most successful Indian romantic film ever made. That kind of standing is making some in the studio re-think what they thought they knew about what sells.
The moment that lit up the debate
Akshay made his point in a rather off-the-cuff way. He was talking about the film and had to check with director Ahmed Khan for the title. Once he was told it was ‘Saiyaara,’ he pressed the issue: ‘Which event did the film have? I want to ask, what event did the film have?’
He gave the leads their due, of course, and said, ‘They were lucky that the film took off.’ But you can tell where his focus is: on the songs and the romance. The message is simple – if you give them something to feel, they will be with you.
Here are the sharp takeaways from Akshay’s stance:
– Big events are optional, not essential
– Songs can power pre-release momentum
– Fresh faces work when performances land
– Destiny matters, but craft tips the scales
Why this resonates with moviegoers
Saiyaara got to the young crowd that has a say in a film’s fate. They live for the music and the emotion. Some of the tracks were chartbusters even before the release, and that was enough to get the fence-sitters to put in for a ticket.
Then you have the story: a singer and a writer in love, and the struggle to keep it together when she is hit with early onset Alzheimer’s. There was an intimacy to it, a vulnerability, and you could see the spark between Ahaan and Aneet. People latched onto that.
What comes next
Ahaan and Aneet are in the works on another one with Mohit Suri. It’s a sign of things to come, and of some confidence in the pair and the way they did it: put the music first, let the story lead and have your first-time leads put in a performance that feels like you’ve known them all along.
You can expect some to hearken to Akshay’s words and change how they spend. Why put on a louder show when you can put your money on a better album or some good old chemistry? For a theatre looking for something different, it’s a welcome change from the usual sequels and universes.
The bigger industry question
R Madhavan has been of the mind that the event films and the multi-starrers are in charge. Akshay would have it that the public isn’t against a little simplicity; they are against being left cold. Saiyaara has shown you don’t need scale to get a stampede in the cinema hall.
In the end, it’s the same as it ever was: a tune you can’t get out of your head, a love story you buy into, and two actors who make it ring true.
