Aug 17 2016

Fitoor to Mohenjo Daro: 5 films of 2016 that didn’t live up to high budgets

by   Keyur Seta

Salman Khan’s Sultan entering the Rs300 crore bracket has been the biggest box-office draw of the year so far. However, on a closer look one would notice that 2016 has also been the year where quite a few films failed to match up to their high budgets and proved to be colossal loss-making ventures. Let’s take a look at them. 

1 Fitoor 

There wasn’t much pressure on Fitoor to become a blockbuster. But when the cost of production is around Rs70 crore, it is extremely important for a film to be a winner at the box office, which obviously wasn’t the case with Fitoor. The film starring Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur was also criticised for its content. Much was expected from Abhishek Kapoor, the maker of well-received films like Rock On!! (2008) and Kai Po Che (2013).

2 Rocky Handsome

As far as the box office is concerned, the coming together of John Abraham and Nishikanth Kamat after Force (2011) was not that exciting a prospect. Made at a budget of Rs43 crore, Rocky Handsome earned only Rs22 crore after negative word-of-mouth publicity. The violent theme also limited its reach.

3 Ghayal Once Again

Sunny Deol isn’t hot property like the Khans or Akshay Kumar any more. But it was necessary for the film to do justice to the budget of around Rs50 crore and the classic Ghayal (1991), whose sequel it was. Ghayal Once Again failed on both fronts. This resulted in the film earning close to Rs27 crore, which amounts to only 50% recovery of cost.

4 Fan

This was the biggest box-office shock of the year. Fan had everything going for it before release — Shah Rukh Khan in the lead, positive buzz created by the promos, SRK in a double role, and, most importantly, a solo release. But, surprisingly, the serious storyline and sad climax seem to have gone against it. After earning big bucks over the release weekend, the film amassed only Rs84 crore, while its budget was above Rs100 crore.

5 Mohenjo Daro 

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro garnered negative reactions for its promos. The word-of-mouth after release hasn't been positive either. Its cost of production is reportedly above Rs100 crore. On top of that, it clashed with Akshay Kumar’s Rustom. These points ensured that the film suffered at the box office. Till 16 August, it had collected only Rs43 crore. Needless to say, it stands no chance of recovery now.