Aamir Khan’s biggest flop since Mela

Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha is among the rare films to have registered a drop in box office collections on a National Holiday. A Bollywood Hungama report called the film ‘the worst disaster for a Khan since Zero’, while trade analyst Taran Adarsh reported that the film made Rs 7.87 on Monday.

Laal Singh Chaddha, the Hindi remake of Hollywood hit Forrest Gump, opened on Thursday, and aimed to capitalise on not only the extended Independence Day weekend, but also the Raksha Bandhan holiday. The film made Rs 11.70 cr on day one, Rs 7.26 cr on Friday, Rs 9 cr on Saturday, and Rs 10 cr on Sunday. Laal Singh Chaddha’s running total is now around Rs 46 crore.

For a film that took over three years to shoot — and 14 overall to produce — this is a disastrous result, on par with Aamir’s last film, the notorious 2018 bomb Thugs of Hindostan. But while that film’s box office performance began with a record-breaking opening, Laal Singh Chaddha was simply rejected by the audience from the get go. The film’s five-day total is less than what Thugs made on opening day.

Bollywood Hungama is predicting a lifetime haul of Rs 75 crore, and according to the portal, on a return-on-investment alone, will be Aamir’s worst flop since Mela. The actor reportedly had a backend deal on the film, which will now be non-existent in the wake of its dismal performance. The film’s reported budget is said to be about Rs 150 crore. The producers had also chosen to wait for six months before the film releases on streaming platforms.

Overseas, the film has made around $5 million (Rs 39 crore) so far, and all eyes will now be on China, where Aamir remains a major star with the record-breaking back-to-back success of Secret Superstar and Dangal. But even Chinese audiences rejected Thugs of Hindostan, after its particularly foul word-of-mouth reputation preceded its release.

The film was released in the wake of a sustained boycott campaign, which seems to have partially contributed to its poor performance at the box office. In a recent appearance on Koffee with Karan, Aamir had admitted that he was very stressed out about the film. “We are excited that we have made a good film, lekin agar film logon ko pasand nahin aayi, bahut dil toot jaayega (If people don’t like it, we will be heartbroken).”