As a movie is on the verge of release, speculations are rife as to how it would perform at the box office. The year 2015 has been no exception. While there have been a number of hits and super-duper hits, there were a good few that failed to impress and were deemed as flops. The point here is though these movies had a good start cast, were made on a high-budget, and were given extravagant promotions, they failed to please the audience. Here’s looking at Bollywood’s 7 ‘grandest’ films that bombed at the box office.
Tevar
The first major release in 2015, this film was produced by Boney Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor and directed by Anil Sharma. Much was expected from the two lead casts Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha, but it ended being another mindless remake of a South Indian film which the audience found to be over-the-top. The movie had a decent opening, but slowly the number of people flocking to the theatres declined. Boasting of lavish sets, the movie unfortunately could not charm the viewers. Apart from one song “Salman Ka Fan”, even the music of the movie by Sajid – Wajid and Imran Khan was not up to the mark. It had nothing new to offer and it bombed badly with a box office collection of only Rs 39 crores. Tevar was thus set down in history as the first major flop of 2015.
Bombay Velvet
The failure of Bombay Velvet at the box office was completely unprecedented. Starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, this film also featured Karan Johar. Known for his hard-hitting films, there were high expectations from Anurag Kashyap regarding this film which is a depiction of the multi-faceted Mumbai life in the 1950s and 1960s. The story line was weak and failed to send forth a message. The film’s box office collection was Rs 25 crores as against its production budget of Rs 120 crore. The film’s marketing budget alone was more than its box office collections.
Roy
This movie was essentially an Arjun Rampal and Jacqueline Fernandez film though the promos showed Ranbir Kapoor as well. The film had a fantastic opening, considering the fact that it was a Ranbir Kapoor movie. The funny truth is that he just had a cameo in the film. Supposed to be a romantic movie with an element of mystery, the storyline turned to be very confusing and failed to impress the crowd. With a box office collection of Rs. 45 crores, Roy crashed at the B.O. in the second week itself and joined the bandwagon of flops. The film also suffered due to a delayed release. The only high point of the movie was the music, with two major hit songs ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’ and ‘Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan’ still ruling the charts.
Shamitabh
Thy name is Amitabh!!! The name itself counts a lot. But, not in this case. With an unusual story line, Shamitabh had everything to bank on: two superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush and a brilliant director R Balki who has belted out hit movies like Paa and Chini Kum. The film also marked the debut of Akshara, Kamal Haasan’s daughter, who also had an equally powerful role to play, leaving aside the glam factor. But somehow, the film failed to make a mark. Even the promos were neither interesting nor striking. The movie had some great performances and ideas but was utterly flawed in its execution. The reviews that came after the release were outright bad and this compelled people to stay away from the theatres. With a box office collection of Rs 22 crores, the film was a major failure.
Singh is Bling
This was an action comedy film, directed by Prabhu Deva and starring Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutt and Amy Jackson. The actor-director duo’s previous movie Rowdy Rathore was a blockbuster and the same was expected from this movie too. Some considered it to be a sequel to Akshay Kumar’s superhit movie Singh is King, but it was not. In fact, the movie was extremely outlandish. With a weak storyline, loud slapstick comedy, a few inconsequential scenes, random songs, the film had nothing much to offer, forget entertain. The only saving grace of the movie was Akshay Kumar, his bizarre fashion sense and seasoned comic timing. But still, it did not help to draw the crowd. With a budget of Rs 92 crores, the film had a box office collection of only Rs 74 crores.
Phantom
Starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, Phantom was a full-on action-cum-drama movie. It was produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and directed by Kabir Khan. The movie received much hype as its story was based on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. However, it had a very weak opening at the box office. After only two weeks, the movie was out of most theatres with critics bashing the movie as plain boring, woeful etc. This was a big budget movie of Rs 70 crores and the total box office collection was only Rs 47 crores.
Shandaar
Last but not the least, we have Shandaar starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Pankaj Kapoor as another big budget movie that flopped in 2015. Shaandaar failed to live up to its name. Described as ‘India’s first destination wedding film’, the movie tried to reinvent on fairytale romance by including some incredibly comic (read ridiculous) situations between the lead stars. Shaandar had a great opening. Infact, according to reports, Shaandaar was the highest opening day grosser in Shahid Kapoor’s career. But it failed to draw the attention of the viewers. The movie ended up being a mix of everything that has already been shown on the silver screen several times before. It lacked even a wee bit of uniqueness. The movie was produced at a high budget of Rs 68 crores, while its box office earnings were Rs 38.71 crores.
