Journalism of Courage
While it’s undoubtedly been a satisfactory year for cinema in Bollywood with hits like ‘Mardaani’, ‘Happy New Year’ and ‘Khoobsurat’, we seen a few misses as well. Here’s a look at some of the films that failed to live up to their expectations at the Box Office.
Action Jackson: Prabhu Dheva’s masala flick starring Ajay Devgn and Sonakshi Sinha in lead roles turned out to be a big disappointment. The film had Ajay palying a double role - the good-hearted goonda Vishy, and his look-alike, the sword-wielder AJ. The film opened to bad reviews and tanked at the box office.
Kill Dil: Expectations from Shaad Ali’s ‘Kill Dil’ were sky high, especially since it had young blood – Ranveer Singh, Parineeti Chopra and Ali Zafar. But, the highlight was Govinda’s return to the big screen. Sadly though, our editor wrote, “It begins badly, plods away the way it began, and ends worse.” ‘Kill Dil’ opened to mixed reviews, but performed below average.
The Shaukeens: Abhishek Sharma’s ‘The Shaukeens’ was a remake of the 1982 film by the same name. The multi-starrer had a stellar cast of Akshay Kumar, Lisa Haydon, Annu Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Piyush Mishra and Rati Agnihotri. The Indian Express reviewed the film, saying, “The jokes get stretched, and finally we stop even faintly sniggering, like we did at the occasional haha-inducing lines.” ‘The Shaukeens’ collected approximately 32.36 crores at the box office.
Daawat-e-Ishq: Fans were excited to see the bubbly Parineeti Chopra romance Aditya Roy Kapur in Habib Faisal’s comedy drama. The film about the Hyderabadi lass and Lucknowi lad, not to mention the food was supposed to have fans flocking to it. But, the plot was too bland and was declared a flop.
Total Siyappa: The film about a Pakistani boy who meets the family of his Indian fiancé to seek permission to marry her, was meant to be a laugh riot. But Indian Express editor, Shubhra Gupta thought the end product failed to deliver. “This could have been hilarious. But all it does is drag its feet through unfunny, stretched situations, she wrote in the review. The film opened to several negative reviews and received a poor box office reception.
Gulaab Gang: For the first time, actresses Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla joined forces for crime drama film, ‘Gulaab Gang’. Centered on the struggles of women in the country, the film was said to be, “The old-style good Vs evil story, styled in the tired way these films have been for the longest time.” It opened to mixed reviews and bombed at the box office.
Bewakoofiyaan: Sonam Kapoor romanced Ayushmann Khurrana for the first time onscreen in Nupur Asthana’s romantic comedy which also had Rishi Kapoor playing the strict father. The story revolved around head-over-heels love, the recession and gender expectations. The Indian Express reviewd the films as, “It spends most of its time trying to showcase a slew of brands and get us to smile at the antics of the father of the bride which are singularly unfunny.” ‘Bewakoofiyaan’ had a poor opening was a big disappointment.
Dishkiyaoon: Harman Baweja’s ‘Dishkiyaoon’ is based on the Mumbai underworld and fans were excited to see the muscle man onscreen after a long break. The actor played a gangster in the crime drama flick along with actress Ayesha Khanna. “It has no discernible story that I could see. Just a bunch of people trying their hand at ‘gangstergiri’, whipping out guns, and spouting ‘tapori’ dialogue,” wrote Shubhra Gupta in the Indian Express review of the film. Produced by Shilpa Shetty and Sunil Lulla, ‘Dishkiyaoon’ received negative critical response.
Bobby Jasoos: After blowing us away with her many onscreen performances, Vidya Balan played the first Bollywood female detective in Samar Shaikh’s ‘Bobby Jasoos’. Also starring Ali Fazal, Arjan Bajwa, Kiran Kumar, Tanvi Azmi among others, the film received positive to mixed reviews. However, it failed to pick up at the box office.
Rensil D’Silva’s comedy drama starring Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Randeep Hooda and Sanjay Dutt among others revolved around a gang of four friends who take on themselves, the task of fighting corruption. In it’s review, Indian Express rated the film half star, “Ungli would have been better off if all of it had been an animation film, aimed primarily at children. As live action for grown-ups, it is the most amateurish piece of work I’ve seen in a while, all fingers and thumbs.”
