Akshay Kumar’s star status grew steadily thanks to the success of his action-oriented hits, especially the Khiladi series. A black belt in martial arts, Akshay had made his debut in Abbas-Mustan’s action-thriller Khiladi in 1992. However, his first release, Saugandh (opposite South’s Shanti Priya), was a disaster at the box-office. Thankfully, the success of Khiladi pulled him out of the rut and established him as a bankable ‘action hero’. He did a few romantic films as well like Yeh Dillagi (1994)which did well at the box-office. Nevertheless, his career continued to be on a roller-coaster ride, until the huge success of the action thriller, Main Khiladi Tu Anadi (1994) and Rajiv Rai’s Mohra (1995), one of the biggest grossers of the ‘90s ( with the chart-busting number, ‘Tu cheez badi hai mast mast …’), catapulted him to the A-list. His two other hits were Sabse Bada Khiladi and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi. In 1997, he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Madhuri Dixit’s ex-lover in Yash Chopra’s blockbuster Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). Akshay remained a steady performer throughout   the ‘90s without being spectacular.