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19 March 2024

Akshay, Sonakshi to get ‘Rowdy’ in Dubai

A local casting call will be held in the coming days with film director Raja Krishna Menon. (AFP)

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

Bollywood fans can go star spotting once again in Dubai as actors Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha zip into the emirate early tomorrow on a promotional tour of their upcoming “Rowdy Rathore”, which releases in UAE cinemas on May 31.

Also joining the duo will be ace choreographer and film director Prabhu Deva.

According to organisers, the trio will be attending a media event earlier in the afternoon before heading out to Ibn Battua Mall for an 8pm meet and greet with the public, near the cinemas.

Jointly produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Sanjay Leela Bhansali Productions, the masala thriller is being touted as Kumar’s return to the action genre after years of sticking to comic roles, his latest being the hit, “Housefull 2”.

Meanwhile, Sinha appears to be ‘excited’ over returning to the big screen after her debut two years ago opposite Salman Khan in “Dabangg”.

Critics are already predicting a bumper run for “Rowdy Rathore”, touting it as the first big summer opener in 2012.

Kumar, who is on a career high after a spate of flops in the recent past, is expected to regain his Bollywood market share as the action star after proving himself as a bankable star in the early 2000s after a string of hits that included “Hera Pheri,” “Dhadkan”, “Waqt”, “Mujhse Shaadi Karoge”, among others. 

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His market share, post “Housefull 2”, was been cemented further when after being dropped by soft drink company “Thumbs Up” as its brand ambassador, unconfirmed reports soon followed that Coca Cola was keen to sign Kumar again.

This was followed up with reports that Kumar has bagged a pay package of nearly Rs100 million per annum, for five years, for being the brand ambassador of a popular motorcycle brand.

While the box office fate of Kumar’s fan following will only be deteremined post release of “Rowdy Rathore”, the media is already reporting that the actor’s brand value alone was enough for the makers to recover half of the film’s production cost, by selling its satellite rights for Rs350m.

The movie is reportedly made at a budget of Rs500m.