Patcy N in Mumbai
While the year saw a record number of Hindi films breaking in the Rs 100 crore club, a handful of films had little luck at the box office.
Media professional and industry observer Abhijit Mhamunkar gives Patcy N a lowdown on films that did poorly at the box office this year, listed according to their release dates.
Players
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu
Director: Abbas-Mustan
Release date: January 6
Approximate budget: Rs 45 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 25 croreOld-timers Abbas-Mastan clearly don't understand the contemporary market given the fate of their last release Players.
Besides, the big players of the film -- Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Neil Nitin Mukesh -- don't have a substantial fan following.
The original film The Italian Job -- from which the film was inspired -- has been shown on television so many times that audiences couldn't be bothered to go watch the desi version.
Note: The television rights of the films in the recovery haven't been taken into account here.
Agent Vinod
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Director: Sriram Raghvan
Release date: March 23
Approximate budget: Rs 62 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 40 crorePeople expected a spy film but what they got instead was a confused film.
Agent Vinod was very contrived, and just couldn't make up its mind whether it was a spy film, a comedy or a romantic film.
Besides, a retro tribute to the 1960's and 1970's doesn't go down too well since films like Om Shanti Om and Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai have done it better in the past.
Tezz
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Kangna Ranaut, Mohanlal, Sameera Reddy, Zayed Khan
Director: Priyadarshan
Release date: April 27
Approximate budget: Rs 40 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 20 crore
The film did not live up to expectations -- it promised a train adventure but instead, most of the action was shot on the ground.
Like Mohanlal's special appearance in the film, the train also seemed to have a special appearance.
Even though Mohanlal is a huge star down south his fans were disappointed to see him in such a small, unimportant role.
The film wasn't promoted properly and the filmmakers could not capatalise on the film's leads Ajay Devgn -- fresh from the success of Singham -- and Anil Kapoor, who had been in the news for his Mission Impossible cameo.
Department
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati, Vijay Raaz, Abhimanyu Singh, Deepak Tijori, Lakshmi Manchu, Anjana Sukhani, Madhu Shalini
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Release date: May 18
Approximate budget: Rs 20 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 15 crore
That Ramgopal Varma is losing his touch is no big secret. Subsequently, interest in his films is on an all-time low.
In Department's case, the promos were unappealing, and the crazy camera angles further killed all hope for the film.
Besides, gang wars have been done to death in Bollywood, and the new film did not show anything different.
Teri Meri Kahaani
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra
Director: Kunal Kohli
Release date: June 22
Approximate budget: Rs 30 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 13 crore
Turns out, the three stories that Teri Meri Kahaani told didn't really work for the audience.
The plot was too simplistic, something not expected from a director like Kunal Kohli, who has made better films like Hum Tum and Fanaa before.
Even before the film released, it did not carry a positive buzz.
The rumoured off-screen romance of Shahid and Priyanka did not interest audiences enough to go watch them on the big screen.
Joker
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Shreyas Talpade, Minisha Lamba
Director: Shirish Kunder
Release date: August 31
Approximate budget: Rs 40 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 22 crore
Joker is, by far, the biggest flop of the year; surpassing Agent Vinod.
There was little going on for the film after its lead and co-producer distanced himself from the film ahead of its release.
Joker was completely rejected by the audience. The humour fell flat.
Heroine
Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Randeep Hooda, Shahana Goswami
Director: Madur Bhandarkar
Release date: September 21
Approximate budget: Rs 32 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 20 crore
Heroine flopped because of several plot holes. The film only depicts the protagonists fall in the film and doesn't explore her rise in the film industry, unlike in other Madhur Bhandarkar films.
The audience couldn't sympathise with Kareena's manipulative and destructive Maahi.
Also, the film didn't provide any fresh insights into Bollywood, like it promised.
Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal
Cast: Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Shreyas Talpade, Madhurima
Director: Priyadarshan
Release date: September 28
Approximate budget: Rs 15 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 7 crore
Audience has lost faith in Priyadarshan's comedies.
The film had very little publicity and released with another comedy film OMG: Oh My God! Which, on all accounts was a better film and did good business at the box office.
Kismat, Love Paisa Dilli
Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Mallika Sherawat, Neha Dhupia, Ashutosh Rana
Director: Sanjay Khanduri
Release date: October 5
Approximate budget: Rs 15 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 7 crore
People weren't really looking forward to this one and weren't surprised when it released.
The comedy was in utterly bad taste.
Aiyyaa
Cast: Rani Mukerji, Prithviraj
Director: Sachin Kundalkar
Release date: October 12
Approximate budget: Rs 16 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 11 crore
Aiyyaa's quirky and bizarre humour didn't find many takers.
Remake of the 25 minute-long Marathi film Gandh (fragrance), Aiyyaa was two and a half hour-long and probably got lost in translation.
Too many songs cropped up at the wrong time in the film, making it even more unbearable.
Comment
article