7 actors and their story of rise fall and rise again! As the trailer of Kalki 2898 AD is unveiled, starring Prabhas alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan, here we look at seven Indian actors and their upcoming releases that demand a fair amount of success to sustain their stardom and retain their fan base

As the trailer of Kalki 2898 AD is unveiled, starring Prabhas alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan, here we look at seven Indian actors and their upcoming releases that demand a fair amount of success to sustain their stardom and retain their fan base

The unpredictable nature of stardom in the business of cinema either can scare or give an adrenaline rush to an artist who is constantly trying to prove their potential, not only through their performance but also commercial success. The space in Bollywood is so volatile that even after delivering multiple commercial successes, an actor, with a status of a 'superstar' has to prove his relevance. Yes, it's mostly 'his' relevance because the pressure on a male superstar is much higher than that of their female counterpart.

Here we look at seven such actors and why their next project has to work commercially to sustain their stardom…

1. Prabhas : After having a great career in the Telugu film industry by delivering some of the award winning performances in films like - Varsham, Chatrapathi, Darling, Mr. Perfect, Mirchi among others Prabhas became a overnight sensation globally with the release of the film Baahubali: The Beginning with the character Mahendra Baabubali in 2015. The success of the film followed by its final installation Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was historical for the Indian cinema.

While the first part of the film was the fourth highest grossing Indian film so far, the second part of the film became the first ever Indian film to cross Rs 1,000 crore in just 10 days of its release. As Prabhas's fan base grew overnight especially among the Bollywood audience, the expectation from the star became so huge, that soon he started to face the imbalance between expectation and reality.

Since then, his next two Hindi-Telugu releases like Saaho and Radhe Shyam could not impress the audience and critics alike and despite having a big budget film, released worldwide, it barely manage to earn expected box office collection.

While with two back-to-back box office failure Prabhas was struggling, last year the film Adipurush released and the controversy around the film and the disasters box office collection damaged the stardom of Prabhas completely!

Though the average collection of his last released film Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire has given the actor some breathing space, all eyes are on Kalki 2898 AD now. The first look of the film has generated a lot of excitement not only for its VFX, actions and storyline but also for its star cast, which includes two megastars of Indian cinema – Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan, alongside Deepika Padukone and of course Prabhas.

2. Ranveer Singh: When the film Band Baaja Barat released in 2010, the success of Ranveer Singh was one of the most inspirational story of how an outsider of Bollywood is finding his space in the Hindi film industry. The success story continued with multiple commercially successful films like - Dil Dhadakne Do, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat among others.

However, since 2019, after the huge success of the film Gully Boy, Ranveer started to face a rough patch in his career. Though the film Sooryavanshi, a multi-starrer film in which he shared screen space with Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar saw a great box office collection of Rs 294 crore in the middle of the pandemic, most of his films since then neither impressed the critics, nor the audience.

Though the sports drama 83 received a mixed to positive review by the critics, it did not work well theatrically. His next Jayeshbhai Jordar was a box office failure, followed by Rohit Shetty's directorial venture Circus. While both the films failed to earn at the box office, only Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani matched the expectation of the audience that rightfully reflected at the box office collection.

Now, all eyes are on Rohit Shetty's next, Singham Again, in which he will be sharing screen space with his favorite co-star and wife Deepika Padukone.

3. Akshay Kumar : Starting his career in 1987 with Aaj, National award winning Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar went through various phases in his career – from having 14 flops in row to delivering superhot films and become one of producers' favorite actor. He became one of the successful actors with blockbuster hits in every genres be it comedy, action, social and family drama.

Akshay is known for franchise films like Khiladi, Hera Pheri, Housefull, followed by Singh Is Kiing, Ruston, Aitraaz, OMG: Oh My God!, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Dhadkan, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Airlift, The State vs Jolly LL.B 2 among many others.

However, in last couple of years, once the superstar delivered some of the commercial disaster of big to mid-budget films like - Bachchhan Paandey, Samrat Prithviraj, Rakshabandhan, Selfiee, Mission Raniganj and the last released Bade Miyan Chote Miyan.

From critics to audience, everyone is really having no hope on this superstar now and the media reports said how the stardom of the actor has really gone for a toss and that it is a high time for the actor to sit down and reflect.

Looking at his upcoming line up and the choice of films, one only can hope that the actor will come up with something in his next release that will give his fans a solid reason to celebrate their favorite star.

Akshay is currently busy shooting for his new film Sarfira along with Radhikka Madan. He will also be seen in the Rohit Shetty's upcoming Singham Again. The actor is playing the protagonist in the action-thriller Sky Force, alongside Nimrat Kaur and Sara Ali Khan. This will be a very special film, as Akshay will be reuniting with his Hera Pheri co-star Suneil Shetty.

These apart, the also has multiple projects in the pipeline. So it will be interesting to observe how once one of the most bankable actor returns to his form, and mint money at the box office.

4. Varun Dhawan : The journey of Varun Dhawan into Bollywood started with back-to-back successful films like Student of the Year in 2012, followed by Main Tera Hero, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania followed by a balanced graph with critically acclaimed films as well as commercial potboilers with Badlapur, ABCD 2, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Judwaa 2, October, and Sui Dhaaga among others.

However, as the expectation got heightened with success, he started to see a tough time with average to low box office collection of some of his films like Kalank, Street Dancer 3D followed by a pandemic.

Though his films post pandemic like Jugjugg Jeeyo and Bhediya managed to impress a section of the audience, it did not collect enough box office number to match up his own success that he delivered as one of the most bankable Bollywood star of his time.

Varun's last project was Bawaal, a Amazon Prime release, did not match up the expectation of the audience and the critics, rather got into controversy.

Presently, Varun is gearing up for his most ambitious project Baby John, the story written and produced by the SRK starrer Jawaan hit maker Atlee. The film is also starring Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Jackie Shroff, Rajpal Yadav among others. The first look of the film looked quite intriguing.

The actor is returning to his mentor Karan Johar, with Dharma Production's future project Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, also starring Janhvi Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf, Maniesh Paul. The film is likely to release theatrically on April 18, 2025.

Both the films are equally important for Varun now to bring back his stardom and the bench mark he established for himself.

5. Arjun Kapoor: While his debut film Ishaqzaade in 2012 offered him bog love from the audience and critics alike, Arjun Kapoor soon started to face a lot of criticism from a section of the audience for being the 'nepo-kid'.

Though he worked with some of the prominent filmmakers and delivered average hits like 2 States, Ki & Ka, Half Girlfriend, Mubarakan to name a few, many of his films failed to impress the audience. Films like Namaste England, Panipat, Bhoot Police, Kuttey turned out to be huge box office failure.

Even though the partial success of Ek Villain Returns was a saving grace, Arjun still need a hit to turn his set back into a comeback.

The actor is playing one of the most pivotal parts in the upcoming Rohit Shetty directorial Singham Again, of the most successful franchise Singham. The film is also introducing a new character of Lady Singham with Deepika Padukone.

6. Ayushmann Khurrana : With unusual choices and content driven films from the time he debut in Bollywood, Ayushmann Khurrana proved his talent as a new age star of Bollywood. Some of his films like - Vicky Donor, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Andhadhun, Badhaai Ho, Article 15, Dream Girl, Bala, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan – he not only addressed social issues that was never explored in Indian cinema before, but also changed the image of a Bollywood hero.

However, the critical and commercial downfall of his film started post pandemic with films like - Anek, Doctor G, and An Action Hero.

Though the moderate success of Dream Girl 2 was a saving grace for Ayushmann, his fans are looking forward to that one film from their favorite actor that brings him back to the race again.

7. Aditya Roy Kapur: No matter what the fate of the film has been, his good looks, strong screen presence and female followings have always been a strong point for Aditya Roy Kapur.

Even though some of his early releases like - Aashiqui 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was highly successful, and Fitoor and Ok Jaanu received moderate appreciation; post pandemic Aditya had multiple failures like Sadak 2, Ludo, Rashtra Kavach Om, Gumraah.

The only success he received was from the Disney+Hotstar web series – The Night Manager.

The actor will be seen in the upcoming multi-starrer film Metro In Dino, directed by Anurag Basu, also featuring Sara Ali Khan, Fatima Sana Sheikh, Konkona Sensharma, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi and Neena Gupta among others. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, under T-Series Films.

His fans are hopeful that the film will give Aditya a great comeback on big-screen.