Nikkhil Advani reflects on ‘massive disaster’ Chandni Chowk To China: ‘Studio head was test-driving Mercedes, bought Honda City after release’

“Chandni Chowk to China was a massive disaster. It had a superb first half, second half was just… But it is still one of the most-watched films on Indian television because kids saw it.  I meet this section who will ask me about something like Kal Ho Naa Ho, and then I will meet these guys who tell me they grew up on Chandni Chowk to China!”

The filmmaker said that it was the time when Aamir Khan’s Ghajini had released. Nikkhil said the Aamir Khan starrer was the first film to “advertise that it was a Rs 100 cr hit” and Shah Rukh Khan’s romantic-drama Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi also dropped the same month and did “some numbers.”

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“At that time, people said the next big one will be by Akshay and we come with Chandni Chowk to China. The head of Warner Bros. was test-driving Mercedes S-Class before the release, after the release he bought Honda City. That’s the level at which the film plummeted. In fact, a media guy stood near my building and said, ‘This is where Nikkhil Advani lives, who wasted your (audience) money. Throw stones here!’ It was vicious. I knew the film was not going to do well. I knew second half was a problem.”

Nikkhil Advani, however, said Akshay Kumar had his back, and the next day, when the “verdict was out,” the actor called him. “He said, ‘Let’s start the next one.’ That was incredible. When I chose to leave Dharma Productions, Salman Khan called me and said let’s make a film. I have got great support always,” he added.

After the film, Akshay collaborated with Nikkhil Advani on the film Patiala House, and went on to work in his productions like Airlift and Bell Bottom.