They are called the biggies, the heavyweights to have been ruling the rooster for ages, but even then, time and again, some of their majorly euphoric films have ultimately gone down the train, much due to its shabby content and inadequate performances. With our first list already out for grabs, here we are with our Second list of some utterly butterly delicious superstar sagas going kaput, without much a do!
Ra.One
Badshah Khan’s most aambitious superhero flick was not just his magnum opus, but boasted of being a technological masterpiece. Although the film set heavy standards for Hollywoodised technologies and advancements used in the detailing, the heavy investment over this project backfired Shah Rukh’s dream of turning Ra.One into a mammoth film. The film, despite being quite a money spinner at the box office incurring almost 170 crores, but the profit was too less to be declared a hit film. Ra.One might have revolutionized film making techniques in B-town but it fell miles short of being what it set out to be!
Veer
When SRK takes a leap, Salman can be no behind. Call it his impulse or his angst to make an emperor film, with so much grandeur and compassion, Salman’s concept of the warrior prince with Veer triggered back at him. Another ambitious star studded film beat the dust as the film, laced with a poor story line and some dull performances has too less to offer. Plus debutante Zareen’s striking yet uncanny resemblance to Salman’s once-upon-a-time beau Katrina set the Media ablaze with negative stories pulling down the film. Made at a budget of 46 crores, Veer went on to rake in about 58 crores, thus performing as an average Salman Khan flick and not the usual path breaking box office –for films that Salman is known of!
Kites
Another magnum opus that could no almost nothing to the career graph of this successful superstar, Rakesh Roshan’s international pet project Kites suffered some bitter thrashing, again due to the age old story of no strong narrative attached! Barbara and Hrithik’s sizzling chemistry grabbed eyeballs as well as headlines, but it failed to help their film score past the hit mark! Kites was a debacle back here although it turned out a blockbuster overseas. Mixed emotions, anyone?
Salaam-E-Ishq
Salman Khan, who is known as the Ruler of the Box office today, was outdated back then. And so were his flop films. Don’t take me wrong but Salaam-E-Ishq, livened up with an ensemble cast was not just an ode to love, but an ode to mediocrity and tom foolery as half baked characterization ate away from the slice-of-life film. And not to mention, the poor performance of the film at the box office ultimately led to the film, being labeled a flop! Expectations were high, stakes were higher, but the film faltered in delivering and how!
LOC Kargil
J.P Dutta came back to the fore with his highly hyped epic War drama, based on the boundaries of the Kargil War. The film could not ride high on the lines like Border did, failing to match upto the levels of its precursor reasonably making its way into the list of duds that encores the film maker’s career graph today!
Kaante
Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir dogs might have served the backdrop for Bollywood’s Kaante, but the film, despite having a gripping storyline and some powerful performances, encrypted with a jolting twist at the end failed to rise above the shackles of shallow and fraudulent film making, thereby resulting in a flop. Kaante, as a film was good, but it lacked the audience acceptance and yeh public hai, sab janti hai! Kaante notched up way below expectations, and was unable to recover its investment, hence making it s trip the list of duds all so easily.
Mangal Pandey
Another magnum opus, one that was perfectly scripted and welcomed to be the next Lagaan of sorts, given the Aamir Khan tag spelling magic all over, Mangal Pandey was exasperating as well as disappointing to the core. An Amir Khan brand tag might have pushed the film for a good opening but a distasteful presentation of India’s treasured history of the Early Uprising bored the audiences and critics as well. And the critical panning led to a sudden fall in its income, hence ending up as an average earner at the box office!
Blue
A film, that was over-hyped, misrepresented as India’s first oceanic film, drowned deep into the deeper blue sea, much due to the lack of a coherent plot and an utterly dismal performance by its leading cast. Despite an overwhelming opening, it failed to maintain continuity whereas its rival All the Best picked up momentum and went on to become a bigger film than Blue. Finally tagged as a blow average movie, blue sank into the darkness of the box office ocean and was never restored thereafter!
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
A YRF entertainer! Check. A strong female protagonist who is known for her creatively talented acting genes! Check. An array of some cute performances! Check. Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic had a blend of all the good things but its gibberish plotline and a nerve wrecking climax spoiled the total film. The film, which could have gone well past the Hit mark was ultimately static at the ‘Below Average’ mark!
Tashan
Tashan revamped the new Dumb in the industry. Although the cast gave an inside sneak peek of what a tumultuous nonsensical ride we were going to experience through their blonde hairdos and stupid maneuvers, the YRF brand and the sexy size zero Kareena in a bikini grabbed quite eyeballs with advance bookings staggering upto almost 7 crores. The film could eventually sum up very little, considering the gravitas it carried with itself, thereby losing out on the money oh so badly!