India’s most expensive Diwali flop: Empty theaters demand refunds, superstars apologize

November 1, 2024: Diwali is known as India’s biggest festival and is usually the day when Bollywood’s most anticipated grand movie releases occur. Now’s the time for top stars looking to dominate the box office by relying on holiday crowds. While many Diwali films have been huge successes, there have been instances where big-budget films failed despite the hype. One such memorable failure occurred six years ago, leaving audiences, exhibitors, and even the film’s stars stunned.

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November 2018, Hindustan thingsThe film, directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, has become India’s most expensive film to release to date, with a production budget of approximately Rs 300 crore.

With the star power of Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif, expectations are sky high and the film needs to gross over Rs 500 crore domestically to break even. Opening Day looks promising; thug It set a record of raising Rs 52 crore. However, initial excitement soon turned to disappointment, with harsh reviews and negative word-of-mouth quickly spreading. By the fourth day, the daily revenue had dropped to Rs 6 crore and the collection dwindled further in the following days. In the end, the film’s net revenue in India was 1.51 billion rupees and the global net revenue was 3.22 billion rupees, far from reaching the break-even point.

As box office plummeted, theater owners and exhibitors began pointing fingers at the film’s producers, Yash Raj Films and Aamir Khan. Many theater owners faced heavy losses and even asked studios to refund their money. “The studio took on the responsibility of distribution. We signed a minimum guarantee agreement hoping to get profit from this big budget film, but it backfired. We are now looking to contact YRF and hope Aamir and Amitabh can help us otherwise some theaters Might have to close,” one exhibitor told us. noon.

Amid the backlash, Aamir Khan stepped forward and took full responsibility for the film’s failure. The actor, known for his successful track record, was frustrated by the film’s reception and expressed regret to fans.

In an interview in 2019 hindustan timesAamir shares, “I’ve always felt responsible for my work, but it’s been almost two decades since I’ve had a film that didn’t do well. Hindustan things There were high expectations and it hurts me that we didn’t live up to those expectations. I feel the need to apologize to the fans for failing to deliver. “