Six franchises and one enduring star – The Akshay Kumar story on how he backed Bollywood’s most memorable universes

With Welcome To The Jungle drawing audiences to theatres, one thing has become evident yet again – few actors have built a relationship with franchise cinema quite like Akshay Kumar. Over three decades, he has headlined some of Hindi cinema’s most recognisable film series, creating characters and worlds that continue to find new audiences long after their first release.

1. Khiladi (1992): The film that gave Bollywood its original Khiladi

A college campus, a murder mystery and a dangerous game of deception. Khiladi wasn’t just another thriller of the ’90s, it showed Akshay Kumar as Hindi cinema’s new action hero. The success of the film spawned an entire franchise, but its biggest legacy was giving the actor an identity that has outlived generations of stars. More than 30 years later, people still call him the Khiladi, a title no other actor has managed to make so completely his own.

2. Hera Pheri (2000): The comedy that never gets old

Three broke men accidentally overhear a kidnapping phone call and decide to cash in on it, leading to one hilarious disaster after another.That’s the simple premise of Hera Pheri, but the film became so much more. Akshay’s Raju — street-smart, ambitious and always chasing the next shortcut became one of Bollywood’s most loved comic characters. Alongside Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal, he created a comedy classic whose dialogues and memes still dominate the internet over two decades later.

3. Singh Is Kinng (2008): Happy Singh won hearts everywhere

What happens when the village’s biggest troublemaker accidentally becomes the head of an Australian underworld empire? That’s Singh Is Kinng. As Happy Singh, Akshay delivered one of the most lovable characters of his career, good-hearted, funny and impossible to dislike. The film became a blockbuster, its music became a rage, and Happy Singh remains one of the actor’s most recognisable avatars.

4.Housefull (2010 onwards): Comic confusion as blockbuster formula

The rule for every Housefull movie is simple – the more confusion, the bigger the laughs. Mistaken identities, swapped partners, bizarre coincidences and complete chaos became the franchise’s trademark. Through every instalment, Akshay remained the face audiences associated with the madness, proving once again that comedy is one of his strongest suits.

5. OMG (2012): Comedy to question blind faith
   A shopkeeper who loses his shop in an earthquake, sues God. That’s the brilliance of OMG, a movie that took on blind faith without losing its sense of humor. Years later, OMG 2 carried on the franchise’s spirit of addressing sex education and social stigma. Both films proved Akshay’s openness to supporting mainstream cinema with a message.

6 .Kesari (2019) Grand tales of courage

The original Kesari told the story of the Battle of Saragarhi, where 21 Sikh soldiers stood against thousands of Afghan tribesmen. Years later, Kesari Chapter 2 expanded the universe by revisiting another defining chapter of India’s freedom movement. Different stories, but united by one theme – ordinary people displaying extraordinary courage.

7. Welcome (2007): The expanding comedy universe

A man in love caught between two lovable gangsters, impossible situations and never-ending comic chaos.Welcome became one of Hindi cinema’s defining comedies, with Akshay’s easygoing Rajiv perfectly balancing the madness around him. Nearly two decades later, Welcome To The Jungle proves there’s still plenty of life left in the franchise, bringing together nostalgia, a massive ensemble and the kind of family entertainment audiences continue to enjoy.