Laal Singh Chaddha will struggle to hit Rs 60 crore lifetime, as earnings drop to lakhs

Produced on a hefty reported budget of Rs 180 crore, Laal Singh Chaddha is Aamir’s biggest flop in over two decades, counting the monumentally disappointing Thugs of Hindostan. Unlike that film, which at least attracted audiences to theatres on opening day, Laal Singh Chaddha has been all but ignored by fans.

The film is, however, performing well overseas. It recently overtook Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and The Kashmir Files — all hits domestically — in overseas markets to become the year’s biggest Hindi hit internationally. Laal Singh Chaddha has made around Rs 55 crore in India, and another Rs 59 crore overseas. There is also hope that a future China release might salvage the situation — Aamir remains a major draw there, but the country’s censorship policies have changed drastically in the post-pandemic era.

Raksha Bandhan, on the other hand, is an unmitigated disaster, particularly for Akshay, who has now delivered three back-to-back flops in 2022 alone. The actor was previously seen in Bachchhan Paandey and Samrat Prithviraj, both big-budget misfires. He will next be seen in the direct-to-digital thriller Cuttputlli.

This has been a particularly difficult year for Bollywood, with only a handful of hits to answer for a series of major flops such as Jersey, Shamshera, Laal Singh Chaddha, Samrat Prithviraj, Dhaakad, Bachchhan Paandey and Raksha Bandhan. The industry is currently reassessing strategies and business models to steady the ship.