The first era of South-style mass action in Hindi cinema began in 2009-10 with the success of Wanted and Dabangg. While Salman remained the poster boy of this trend with many hits, Akshay was one of the early adopters. He delivered hits like Rowdy Rathore and Khiladi 786, which were steeped in this filmmaking grammar. After ‘pan-India’ mass films returned to Bollywood’s consciousness in this decade, other stars again followed suit. Shah Rukh found success in Pathaan and Jawan, Salman’s fortunes were mixed with Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and Sikandar, but Ranbir Kapoor also found success with Animal. Even smaller films—*Maalik* with Rajkummar Rao, *Subedaar* with Anil Kapoor, and *Bhaiyaji* with Manoj Bajpayee – followed the trend. Yet, Akshay kept doing his thing. This time, there was no Rowdy Rathore from him. Experiments like Ram Setu and Raksha Bandhan did not land, but the actor persevered. He tasted some success with OMG 2, Kesari 2, and Jolly LLB 3, eventually finding his way back to comedy. No one does comedy like Akshay Kumar

Even though he began as an action star, Khiladi Kumar’s transformation into comedic genius was pretty organic. After Hera Pheri, he delivered several hits, mostly with Priyadarshan. During his golden phase (2007-19), the actor invariably had one comedy hit each year. His comic timing made most of those films cult classics, and his scenes meme fodder. Akshay’s return to comedy began with Housefull 5, a film that did well at the box office but still drew a lot of criticism.

And before you label calling it ‘the best thing for Bollywood this year’ hyperbole, let me explain. The thing mainstream Bollywood films have been missing lately is variety. Every film looks like every other film. It seems there are only two genres right now: mass action and chirpy romance. ‘Different’ films like Tu Yaa Main and Ikkis arrive every now and then, but without the firepower of big stars. The once-in-a-generation success of Dhurandhar is largely due to Bollywood, as it is on the shoulders of a filmmaker who has largely followed tropes.