Cinema as a form of entertainment has always been extremely popular among the masses in the country. It’s no hidden fact that before movie releases of big superstars, we have even seen instances where the queue outside cinema halls would stretch for even a kilometre. Back in those days before the advent of OTT, movies were not just an ‘option’ of entertainment. It was hailed as one of the primary sources of entertainment for families and friends during weekends after a hectic and tiring week. However, ever since the OTT culture gripped the country, content became available readily on mobile phones and tablets and with time, the importance of theatrical cinemas did take a beating to an extent.
Yes, there’s no doubt about the fact that when it comes to larger-than-life experience, nothing and absolutely nothing comes close to the 70mm visual screen experience. But, logically speaking, anyone who spends cautiously keeping a budget in mind would rather opt for paying a yearly subscription for a leading OTT platform where you can unlimited content throughout the year instead of shelling out nearly close to 500 bucks for a single film for a one-time experience. Add to that, Covid-19 played a spoilsport and it certainly resulted in a humongous financial crunch all over the country. People lost jobs in huge numbers and at a time when the majority of the country’s population is struggling to make ends meet, it’s only natural that spending on entertainment is nothing less than a luxury. Well, the impact of the same is certainly visible at the box office as well. Going by the pattern in recent times, we have seen some humongous, star-studded movies crash at the box office surprisingly. Well, the constant soaring ticket prices is an area of major concern indeed and surprisingly enough, not many people are willingly putting an effort to solve this issue. As a result, it is safe to say that in today’s time, only the ones who can easily afford to watch films paying big bucks are going to cinemas to watch movies or the die-hard fans of superstars. The major chunk of masses that lie in between these two fragments are perhaps finding it difficult to spend all that money just for a one-time film experience. The result is directly proportional to big star-studded movies crashing at the box office. So, here’s taking a quick look at some major movies that were released recently and tanked badly at the box office despite high expectations.
Jersey: As per reports in Wikipedia, Shahid Kapoor and Mrunal Thakur starrer ‘Jersey’ was made with a budget of 80 crores. However, as per media reports, it only managed to collect 27.9 crores thereby emerging as a humongous loss. Luck too perhaps wasn’t supporting the movie. The release got postponed multiple times due to a sudden surge in Omicron and finally, when it was released, it failed to reach its full potential.
Shamshera: As per reports in mtwikiblog.com, Ranbir Kapoor’s comeback movie aka ‘Shamshera’ was made with an overall budget of over 150 crores. However, it managed to collect only 42.48 crores in India and thereby, it proved to be a disaster at the box office despite all the hype around Ranbir Kapoor’s return to cinemas and Sanjay Dutt’s comeback as an antagonist in a movie. The movie unfortunately didn’t receive great reviews and soon, the buzz disappeared.
83: As per reports in Wikipedia, Ranveer Singh’s ’83’ was made with an overall budget of around 270 crores and it managed to earn around 193.73 crores at the box office to be precise. The constant delay around the release of the movie due to Covid-19 didn’t help the cause and people too had mixed reviews about it. Although 193.73 as a number sounds fancy for the box office keeping the current situation in mind, the reality is that it resulted in a huge loss for the makers.
Runway 34: As per reports on mtwikiblog.com, the budget of Ajay Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan and Rakul Preet Singh starrer ‘Runway 34’ was more than 65 crores. However, despite keeping a check on the budget, the movie failed to reach the break-even point. The lifetime collection of the movie is reported to be just 32.96 crores and poor reviews about the movie didn’t help the cause. Surprisingly enough, once the movie was released on OTT, the buzz was that many people liked the content. But hey, it seemed to be one of those many projects which the audience preferred enjoying while chilling in their own homes instead of shelling out big bucks at cinemas.
Satyameva Jayate 2: Reports on Wikipedia suggest that the movie was made with an overall budget of over 95 crores. However, this one starring John Abraham and Divya Khosla Kumar faded as soon as it was released to the cinema with an overall box office collection of just 17.29 crores. It is one of John Abraham’s biggest flops to date.
Heropanti 2: Given the fact that Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria are both popular among the masses today, it was extremely shocking to see this movie perform poorly at the box office. Seems like Tiger Shroff’s high-octane actions couldn’t save the movie as the content was termed to be average. As a result, the movie managed only Rs 35.13 crores despite being made with a budget of over 70 crores. A very forgettable experience for Tiger Shroff indeed.
Jayeshbhai Jordaar: When the trailer of Ranveer Singh’s ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ was released, fans had humongous expectations and were almost certain that the movie would work in cinemas. However, destiny had other plans for the movie. After being made with a budget of over 85 crores as per Wikipedia, the movie only managed to collect Rs 26.31 crores thereby resulting in becoming one of Ranveer Singh’s biggest disasters ever at the box office.
Dhaakad: After critics and cine-goers saw Dhaakad in cinemas once it was released, the majority of them were in awe of the hard work that Kangana Ranaut put forward for her action and stunts. However, in today’s time of content-driven space, if someone expects a movie to work just because there’s action as close to Hollywood, he or she is certainly living in a fool’s paradise. Unfortunately, the movie collected only Rs 2.58 crores at the box office as per reports in The Indian Express after being made with a budget of over 85 crores.
Samrat Prithviraj: Period films have a history of generally working well at the Indian box office. However, despite all the positivity around the history of period films in India, the movie itself became ‘history’ very easily just a week or two after release. Reports in India Today reveal that the movie was made with a budget of 200 crores whereas it managed to earn just 66 crores at the box office.
Bachchan Pandey: Once again, it was Akshay Kumar who was at the receiving end of a disaster at the box office. The movie that started with Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon and Arshad Warsi in lead roles failed to become a rage despite high expectations. Reports in Wikipedia reveal that after being made with an overall budget of over 160 crores, the movie only collected just 50 crores in India. The collections were unfortunately so poor that even if add the box office (worldwide), it still fails to reach the break-even point by quite a good margin. Seems like 2021 and 2022 have just not been Akshay’s years.
Attack: Part 1: As per the reports in the media, Attack (Part 1) that starring John Abraham, Rakul Preet Singh and Jacqueline Fernandez in lead roles was made with an overall budget of around 65 crores. However, poor reviews certainly didn’t help the movie’s cause as reports on Wikipedia suggest that it only managed 22.07 crores at the box office. Well, going by the pattern of 2021 and 2022, it seems like the ‘Desi Boys’ aka Akshay Kumar and John Abraham need to pull up their socks soon.
Well, that was our compilation of some really big star-studded films that vanished from cinemas very quickly after failing to reach their desired potential. With the difference in the margins being extremely high, it’s high time that a cost correction strategy is applied where everything, right from the remuneration of actors to the overall budget for sales and promotions is changed effectively to achieve the desired results because otherwise, it’s really scary times ahead for B-Town going forward. Time to get your thinking shoes on and get going.