Arjun Rampal suggests pandemic fear was behind Dhaakad’s box office failure, remembers ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 did really well’ at the same time

Arjun Rampal says he was "hurt" when his film Dhaakad, co-starring Kangana Ranaut, didn't do well at the box office.

Arjun Rampal played the antagonist in the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Dhaakad. (Photo: Zee Studios)

Actor Arjun Rampal, who was last seen in Kangana Ranaut-starrer Dhaakad, has reacted to the film’s dismal performance at the box office last year. Arjun said that Dhaakad, a spy-thriller, was an expensive film and “it hurts” him that it didn’t perform well.

Dhaakad, directed by Razneesh Ghai, was mounted on a big budget of Rs 80 crore, but it earned a mere Rs 2.58 crore in its entire run, according to Bollywood Hungama. When Arjun was asked why he thinks the film didn’t meet expectations, he told Hindustan Times, “It was an expensive film, so yes, it does hurt when it doesn’t do well. I don’t think it deserved to do the kind of numbers that it did. People were skeptical at that point of time. Dhaakad was one of the first few films to come out post pandemic. People were maybe scared to go to the theatres.”

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However, Arjun admitted that he can’t say that people were scared of coming to theatres because Kartik Aaryan, Tabu and Kiara Advani’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, directed by Anees Bazmee, also released around the same time and did huge numbers at the box office. He said, “We can’t even say that, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 did really well. Maybe we released with the wrong film. Every film has it’s destiny, and you just have to accept it and move on. The reality is the reality. But the film is there, I am proud of it, it is not a film I won’t be proud of. As long as you take that much away from a film, you are in a good space.”

Also read | Kangana Ranaut’s Dhaakad producer on film flopping at box office, facing massive losses: ‘Recovered most of them’

About being a part of Dhaakad, which is now streaming on Zee5, Arjun had earlier said, “I play a never attempted before character, an antagonist who is deadly and cool, all at once. As an actor, I am constantly on the look-out for parts that challenge me. Dhaakad is definitely going to help me explore a different side to me.”

Previously, Kangana had claimed that negative news reports were being written about the film, and asked why similar criticisms weren’t being made of movies such as JugJugg Jeeyo and Gangubai Kathiawaid. She had written on Instagram, “Everyday I wake up to hundreds of articles of Dhaakad being a flop… and no one is talking about these big disasters… any specific reason?”

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