Summary
- Akshay Kumar is a versatile actor, showcasing skills in action, romance, and comedy genres throughout his prolific career.
- Some of Kumar’s best comedy performances come in films like Awara Paagal Deewana, displaying his comedic range and impressive stunts.
- With hits like Hera Pheri and Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Kumar has established himself as one of Bollywood’s most beloved comedic actors.
Akshay Kumar comedy movies could be a genre unto themselves considering how many of them make up the already prolific actor’s filmography. A multi-talented actor, producer, and host, Kumar has worked in Hindi-language productions since 1987, when he had a small role in Aaj as a Karate Instructor under his birth name, Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia. Akshay Kumar has acted in over 100 film and television productions. He is certainly one of the most versatile Hindi actors, appearing in a tremendous range of genres, from romance to action to comedy. He has often appeared on “Highest Paid Actors” lists (via Forbes).
With his charming persona, undeniable talent, and love for acting, it’s a surprise that Akshay Kumar has not yet made the jump from Bollywood to Hollywood. Of his many roles, some of the most celebrated come in his comedy films. These are often part-action, part-romance, or occasionally part-horror, but they all showcase his impressive comedic range. While the bulk of his best comedies came in the early 2000s when he had already become a fixture in Bollywood cinema, some of his earliest roles also revealed that he was more than just an action star.
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10 Awara Paagal Deewana (2002)
Akshay Kumar Plays Guru Gulab Khatri.
Awara Paagal Deewana (whose title translates to Wayward, Crazy, Insane) comes from director Vikram Bhatt and is one of the best showcases for Akshay Kumar’s skills in action comedy movies. The movie itself received mixed reviews, with many critics agreeing that the first half was much better than the second. However, Akshay Kumar’s performance itself was praised as a highlight, as was the music used in the movie.
Kumar stars in Awara Paagal Deewana as Guru Gulab Khatri, a don of a crime family whose father-in-law has recently passed away. He, his ex-wife, brother-in-law, and other distant family members set off for New York City to claim the $200 million in diamonds their patriarch left in his will. It’s an action-packed race across the globe and Kumar is able to pull off comedy and stunts in equal measure, particularly in one scene ripped straight from The Matrix. This film is much more in line with Kumar’s earlier action roles but shows the actor getting more comfortable with comedic scenes.
9 Bhagam Bhag (2006)
Akshay Kumar Plays Bunty Rajkumar.
Running Around, Especially Aimlessly or, as it’s called in Hindi, Bhagam Bhag, is one of Akshay Kumar’s best pure comedy movies, though it has a gripping crime plot amidst all the laughs. The movie comes from director Priyadarshan, and like Awara Paagal Deewana received mixed reviews, though almost all of them singled out Akshay Kumar’s performance as a saving grace in an otherwise relatively movie. In Bhagam Bhag, Bunty Rajkumar (Kumar) is hired by a theatrical troupe to perform plays in London.
Once there, a series of increasingly bizarre accidents lead Bunty and the rest of his cast to be accused of heroin smuggling and murder. It’s a very funny farce and in the ensemble cast, Kumar stands out, delivering his lines with confidence and a knowing humor. While the second half of the film becomes a bit of a bloated murder mystery movie, the front half of Bhagam Bhag is full of hilarious scenes. The cast clearly has experience with what really happens between a group of actors who’ve spent too much time together.
8 Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994)
Akshay Kumar Plays Inspector Karan Joglekar.
Sameer Malkan’s 1994 action-comedy Main Kiladi Tu Anari is titled in English as I’m A Player And You A Novice, which sums up the plot incredibly well. It’s one of Akshay Kumar’s first ventures into action-comedy territory, and is beloved by fans to this day despite releasing three decades ago. Primarily an action star in 1994, Kumar’s role as Inspector Karan Joglekar on the hunt for his brother’s killer sees him as the straight man opposite Deepak Kumar (Saif Ali Khan).
Kumar has some fantastic stunts in the film and
Main Khiladi Tu Anari
serves as a bit of a meta-commentary on his career as Kumar, like Deepak, was looking to break out of his own acting mold at the time.
Deepak is a romantic actor who wants to get into action films, and so decides to ride along with Karan to learn how to be a hero. Kumar has some fantastic stunts in the film and Main Khiladi Tu Anari serves as a bit of a meta-commentary on his career as Kumar, like Deepak, was looking to break out of his own acting mold at the time.
7 Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi (1997)
Akshay Kumar Plays Rajant Kapoor.
Coming from director David Dhawan, Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi was one of Akshay Kumar’s most prominent early comedy movies following dipping his toes in the genre with 1994’s Main Khiladi Tu Anari. The Khiladi franchise is a movie and television universe co-created by Kumar, though was the first to be a comedy, with the rest being pure stunt-based action.
Khiladi productions are united only by Kumar starring in them and “Khiladi” (“daredevil” in Hindi) appearing in the title. Otherwise, each entry has little to nothing to do with the others in the series. In Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi, Kumar plays Rajant Kapoor, or Mr. Khiladi, an unambitious young man who realizes he has to get his act together when he falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy and haughty businessman. The fifth Khiladi movie is much more focused on comedy rather than the straight action of previous installments.
6 Garam Masala (2005)
Akshay Kumar Plays Makarand “Mac” Deendayal.
Indian film director Priyadarshan is a semi-regular collaborator with Akshay Kumar, and in 1985 remade the American comedy Boeing Boeing (1965). Decades later, he then remade his own film in 2005, this time calling it Garam Masala and bringing now-megsata Akshay Kumar on board. In the film, best friends and photographers Makarand “Mac” Deendayal Chatpatiya (Kumar) and Shyam “Sam” Salgaonkar (John Abraham) are hopeless flirts who get themselves into all kinds of trouble in their lives as they try to balance relationships and their jobs.
A classic sex comedy, Garam Masala may have been a bit insulting if Kumar was not able to so easily be self-deprecating and be the butt of his failed pursuits. Garam Masala was a hit with critics and audiences alike, and is considered by most to be Kumar’s first truly successful comedy after starting his career as an action star.
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5 Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004)
Akshay Kumar Plays Arun Khanna.
Another Akshay Kumar movie made in collaboration with director David Dhawan is 2004’s Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, which literally translates to Will You Marry Me?. As the title suggests, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi is a rom-com through and through, and was received well by both audiences and critics. Many cited Kumar’s performance as a highlight once again, with Dhawan’s direction also receiving praise.
This rom-com features an excellent soundtrack and three well-rounded performances at the center.
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi follows Sameer Malhotra (Salman Khan) and Arun Khanna (Akshay Kumar) as they both vie for the hand of Rani Singh, played by Hollywood crossover star Priyanka Chopra. This rom-com features an excellent soundtrack and three well-rounded performances at the center. It’s a film for everyone with a simple, clean plot that’s funny and heart-warming thanks to the chemistry between the leads. Kumar in particular is doing some of his most charming and quirky work, making every scene he’s in just a hint more colorful.
4 Phir Hera Pheri (2006)
Akshay Kumar Plays Raju.
Akshay Kumar has starred in several sequels in his career, though few were as beloved by his fans as the 2006 comedy Phir Hera Pheri from director Neeraj Vora. Phir Hera Pheri is the second film in the Hera Pheri franchise and picks up right where the first left off. In the sequel, Raju (Kumar), Ghanshyam “Shyam” (Suniel Shetty), and Baburao Ganpatrao Apte “Babu Bhaiya” (Paresh Rawal) are all rich from their efforts in the first film.
Raju hears about an investment that can double his friends’ money in 21 days and convinces them to buy in. Like the first film in the franchise, Phir Hera Pheri developed a cult following and is a prime example of how a comedy sequel should be done. The cliffhanger ending also hints that there may be a third film eventually.
3 Welcome (2007)
Akshay Kumar Plays Rajiv Saini.
2007’s Welcome, from director Anees Bazmee, is a loose remake of the 1999 comedy Micky Blue Eyes. Despite some fierce competition around the time it released, and somewhat mixed reviews from critics, Welcome was a commercial hit and the second highest grossing Hindi film of 2007 — marking it as yet another success in Akshay Kumar’s career. Kumar plays Rajiv Saini in Welcome, an auctioneer who falls in love with Sanjana Shetty (Katrina Kaif), the half-sister of Don Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar), a gangster with dreams of becoming an actor.
When Rajiv discovers that Sanjana’s family are dangerous criminals, he must find a way to fit in. Ridiculous, zany, and hilarious, Welcome is filled with laugh-worthy moments and Kumar is singular in his ability to be at home in the most absurd comedy scenes and action set pieces. The ensemble cast is also one of the best he’s been surrounded by in his comedy career.
2 Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007)
Akshay Kumar Plays Dr. Aditya “Adi” Shrivastav.
2007’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa, from director and regular creative collaborator with Akshay Kumar, Priyadarshan, is easily one of the most ambitious and experimental of the actor’s comedic ventures. Bhool Bhulaiyaa (whose titled means Wrong Maze in English) is a comedy-horror film starring Kumar as a psychologist named Dr. Aditya “Adi” Shrivastav.
Much of the love for the film is due to the eccentric and affable Dr. Adi, whom Kumar plays with smiling intensity.
In the film, Avni S. Chaturvedi (Vidya Balan) and Siddharth Chaturvedi (Shiney Ahuja) are a married couple who return to their family home only to find that it’s haunted. Dr. Adi is called to find out what’s going on and remove the spirits if he can. Bhool Bhulaiyaa has developed a cult following over the years and has even resulted in a sequel with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 in 2022. Much of the love for the film is due to the eccentric and affable Dr. Adi, whom Kumar plays with smiling intensity.
1 Hera Pheri (2000)
Akshay Kumar Plays Raju.
The movie many consider to be the best Akshay Kumar has ever starred in is once again helmed by Priyadarshan, and is, of course, the 2000 comedy Hera Pheri. Many consider Hera Pheri to be Kumar’s first true comedy movie, and to this day is still regarded as one of his absolute best. In Hera Pheri, Kumar plays Raju, a down-on-his-luck tenant who finds himself wrapped up in a ransom plot with his friend Shyam (Suniel Shetty) and landlord Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (Paresh Rawal).
Together, the three men decide they can find their way out of poverty using the ransom and involve themselves in a hilarious and thrilling plot to claim the money. Hera Pheri is Kumar’s first major foray into comedy, or at least the first time he doesn’t have to be an action star on top of making jokes. Akshay Kumar is a natural comedic actor in this film, able to imbue any line reading or look with humor. Immensely popular in India, Hera Pheri has even given rise to a whole subset of memes (via English Jagran).
