With the recently released OTT crime thriller Raakh gaining attention, actor Akash Makhija is surprised by how his portrayal of serial killer Babu has left some viewers genuinely intimidated.

Recalling a recent incident, he says, “A group of people in public were so scared of me that they backed away. I was like, ‘Arre, I just played Babu, I am not him!’”

The 31-year-old’s Instagram, too, has been flooded with hate messages. “I never thought Babu would scare people to this extent, but it’s making me feel like sahi kaam kiya hai,” he adds.

Describing his wife’s reaction, Akash shares, “She binge-watched the show and cried uncontrollably. She even asked me to just go away!”

The actor, who was also seen in Bhool Chuk Maaf (2025), reveals he nearly missed out on the role: “I auditioned with around 800 people… After six rounds, I was told nahin hoga. I started looking for other things, then suddenly I got a call: ‘Aaja tu, you are finally selected’.”

Akash is now focused on building on this success with more substantial projects. “Sabko dara liya, now I want the recognition to fetch me more work as soon as possible,” he signs off.

WILL KARATE KID: LEGENDS SCORE AT THE BOX OFFICE?

The month of May has been great for both Hollywood and Bollywood. Raid 2 collected more than Rs. 150 crores. Bhool Chuk Maaf is expected to collect around Rs. 40 crores at the box office in its first week. As for Hollywood, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning still has chances of entering the Rs. 100 crore club as it performed well in its second week. Final Destination Bloodlines, meanwhile, is now all set to hit the Rs. 60 crore mark. Next Friday will see the release of Housefull 5 and hence, no major Hindi film is scheduled to arrive in cinemas. However, a Hollywood film, Karate Kid: Legends, will try its luck.

It belongs to the famous The Karate Kid franchise and stars Jackie Chan in a crucial role. Such martial arts films have worked in the past and moreover, the Hindi version has voiceovers by Ajay Devgn and his son Yug. This is Yug’s first-ever work in cinema. He attended a promotional event of Karate Kid: Legends with papa Ajay and it caught eyeballs.

Karate Kid: Legends will have a wide release in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. However, the advance booking has been very poor. Hopefully, the tickets will be sold in current and it’ll manage to collect in the Rs. 1 crore range.

Meanwhile, several Hindi films will be up for release tomorrow like Bombay, Chidiya, Dilli Dark, His Story Of Itihaas and Love Karu Yaaa Shaadi. In a rare instance, as many as five Marathi films would also be out like Mhanje Waghache Panje, Ashtapadi, Dharmarakshak Ahilyadevi Holkar Ek Yug, Mawaali and Paivatechi Savali. Sadly, all 10 of them will face a struggle to get screens and audiences.

Bhool Chuk Maaf rests on a very unique idea. The first half is predictable but has some funny moments to keep the interest going. The second half is where the film goes into unexpected territory. But here, the narrative drags in the middle. Just the way the character is stuck in a time loop, the viewers might also feel stuck as the film gets repetitive. A few developments are plain silly. The songs don’t work and that’s quite disappointing since the banner (Maddock Films) is known for a great music score. Thankfully, the climax is justified and worthy. Also, Rajkummar Rao rises above the script and is terrific. He brings the house down in a particular scene in the second half; kudos should also go here to writer-director Karan Sharma. Wamiqa Gabbi's performances and expressions are spot on. Sanjay Mishra (Bhagwandas) leaves a huge mark in a small role. Ishtiyak Khan (Kishan) and Dheerendra Gautam (Hari) raise laughs. Pragati Mishra (Keri) is damn good while Akash Makhija (Hamid), Seema Pahwa, Raghubir Yadav, Zakir Hussain, Anubha Fatehpuria (Titli’s mother), Jay Thakkar (Sushil) and Vineet Kumar (priest) others are fair. All in all, Bhool Chuk Maaf is an average flick.

My rating - ** ½ out of 5!

FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES IS A SURPRISE HIT; MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING UNDERPERFORMS; ALL EYES ON THE CONTROVERSIAL BHOOL CHUK MAAF

The supernatural film Final Destination Bloodlines has emerged as a surprise success. The industry expectation was that it would open at Rs. 3 crores max. But it opened at Rs. 4.25 crores. On Saturday, it was going to face competition from a Hollywood film. Everyone was sure that it would drop. Instead, Final Destination Bloodlines had a decent jump. The target for the film was to cross the earnings of Evil Dead Rise; it earned Rs. 30 crores. Final Destination Bloodlines was able to reach this figure by Wednesday itself. If it holds well in the next two weeks, it has the potential to cross the Rs. 50 crore mark.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, meanwhile, has underperformed. It opened well at Rs. 16.50 crores on Saturday. Ideally, it should have jumped to Rs. 20 crores on Sunday. Instead, it settled at Rs. 17.75 crores. The film fell on Monday to Rs. 5.75 crores. It collected Rs. 5.50 crores and Rs. 4.50 crores on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. The first week will end at around Rs. 54 crores. With such trending, crossing the Rs. 100 crore mark will be impossible.

Meanwhile, all eyes are now on Bhool Chuk Maaf. The film was all set to release on May 9. But on May 8, its producers, Maddock Films, called off the theatrical release and announced that the film will release directly on Amazon Prime Video on May 16. PVR Inox didn’t take this U-turn kindly and they knocked on the doors of Bombay High Court. The court stopped Maddock from premiering Bhool Chuk Maaf on Amazon. A few days later, both the parties had an out-of-court settlement. As per the settlement, Bhool Chuk Maaf will be released in cinemas on May 23 and it’ll then premiere on OTT two weeks later, on June 6.

With such an arrangement, it was assumed that viewers might not turn up to see the film in large numbers. However, the advance booking has been decent. It can still open in the range of Rs. 2.50-3 crores.

There are two more films this week - the historical Kesari Veer and the horror comedy Kapkapiii. Sadly, both these movies have negligible buzz and will go unnoticed.

BHOOL CHUK MAAF’S SUDDEN THEATRICAL CANCELLATION SENDS SHOCKWAVES

Bhool Chuk Maaf was all set to be released in cinemas tomorrow, that is, May 9. The advance booking had started and even the press show invites were sent out to the members of the media. But at 11:00 am on May 8, the makers announced that they won’t be releasing the film tomorrow and moreover, it’ll never see the light of day in cinemas! They further revealed that the film will premiere on OTT, on Amazon Prime Video, on May 16.

The statement read, “In light of the recent events and the heightened security drills across the nation, we at Maddock Films and Amazon MGM Studios have decided to bring our family entertainer, Bhool Chuk Maaf, directly to your homes on May 16—only on Prime Video, worldwide. While we were eagerly looking forward to celebrating the film with you in theatres, the spirit of the nation comes first. Jai Hind.”

There were murmurs that Bhool Chuk Maaf might get delayed by a week as there might be military escalations between India and Pakistan, leading to a tense situation in the country. Hence, many were prepared for it. But the makers not just pushed the release by a week, they also decided to bypass the theatrical route. The exhibitors are obviously angry. The situation reminded them of the dark days of the pandemic. But those days were different as cinemas were shut and there was a fear of going to cinemas. At present, cinemas are open and there’s no fear at all.

The holdover releases faced a dent in collections on Wednesday, May 7, due to the news coverage about Operation Sindoor. But it was not alarming and it's not like people will skip leisure activities and focus only on the developments across the border, the next few days. Also, the exhibitors feel that the makers could have probably waited and brought their film in cinemas a week or two later. Cancelling the theatrical release has led to disappointment and dejection among cinema owners.

As of 10:00 am on May 8, Bhool Chuk Maaf had sold around 5000 tickets. It could have opened at around Rs. 3 crores and if content was strong, the film would have collected Rs. 14-15 crores in its first weekend. With no competition from any major Hindi release until June 6, the film had the chance to be a sleeper hit. Last year, Srikanth, also starring Rajkummar Rao, was released in the same week and took advantage of negligible competition, collecting around Rs. 48-50 crores. Bhool Chuk Maaf could have followed suit.

Meanwhile, Raid 2 will now have a further advantage. The Ajay Devgn-starrer opened at a huge Rs. 19.25 crores, much more than Rs. 11-12 crores that was expected from it. At the end of Week 1, it is expected to collect around Rs. 94 crores. Last year, Ajay Devgn’s Shaitaan managed to collect Rs. 145 crores plus and also had the benefit of an open run. It managed to do so despite collecting Rs. 80 crores in Week 1. Raid 2 has earned more in its initial week and therefore, it won’t be a surprise if it manages to clock a huge number in its lifetime.