Patcy N in Mumbai
We had a look at the Top 10 hits in Hindi cinema so far. Now, it's time to look at the half-yearly flops.
Some films bombed expectedly while there were a few surprises as well.
Media professional and industry observer Abhijit Mhamunkar lists the top 10 flops in the last six months. The films are listed according to their release dates.
Inkaar
Cast: Arjun Rampal, Chitrangda Singh, Deepti Naval
Director: Sudhir Mishra
Release date: January 18
Inkaar was touted as the first film to be made on sexual harassment at the work place but it didn't deliver. It targeted the multiplex audience, which would have easily connected to the subject.
Director Sudhir Mishra could not get his views across well, and the solution he offered was confusing as well.
We've seen better films from Sudhir Mishra; Inkaar was no where near them.
David
Cast: Vikram, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vinay Virmani, Tabu, Lara Dutta, Isha Sharvani
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Release date: February 1
The film, which told three stories, tried to do too many things at once. The binding factor was also very weak.
David had an interesting cast but badly-written roles.
Out of the three stories, Neil Nitin Mukesh's was the best.
The film got bad word-of-mouth publicity and the multiplex audience did not warm up to it.
I Me Aur Main
Cast: John Abraham, Prachi Desai, Chitrangda Singh
Director: Kapil Sharma
Release date: March 1
Audiences were not ready to accept John Abraham in a loser kind of a role.
Besides, his solo hero movies don't do really well, with the exception of Force.
I Me Aur Main was a badly written and directed film. It did not have a plot.
The Attacks of 26/11
Cast: Nana Patekar, Atul Kulkarni, Sanjeev Jaiswal
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Release date: March 1
Based on the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, The Attacks of 26/11 was a good subject and people expected it to do be good.
Ram Gopal Varma has lost his touch. It was his kind of film but even then, he couldn't do a good job of it.
It was a tacky docu-drama.
3G
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sonal Chauhan, Ashish Kapoor, Mrinalini Sharma
Director: Sheershak Anand, Shantanu Ray Chhibber
Release date: March 15
3G had a new concept but the film was absurd.
There were too many unbelievable things happening on screen and people could not connect with it.
It was thriller yet audiences were laughing in the theatres.
Neil Nitin Mukesh is a good actor but he is not a saleable star yet.
Himmatwala
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Tamannaah Bhatia, Paresh Rawal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Adhyayan Suman, Zarina Wahab
Director: Sajid Khan
Release date: March 29
Himmatwala did not work mostly because of its director Sajid Khan and his style of publicity.
He claimed the film would make Rs 200 crores. It became embarrassing for the actors involved with the movie too.
The film was tacky even though its budget was huge. It did not have any appeal. Audiences felt cheated when they went to the theatre.
The original 1983 Himmatwala was not a particularly well-made film but it was a hit. Sajid Khan made a worse copy of it.
Bad performances and bad action scenes added to its failure.
Aurangzeb
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sashaa Agha, Rishi Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Swara Bhaskar, Deepti Naval
Director: Atul Sabharwal
Release date: May 17
Aurangzeb had potential but it was badly marketed. Since it was a Yash Raj product, it deserved better publicity than what it got.
Arjun Kapoor is a promising young actor. Rishi Kapoor and Prithviraj were very good in their respective characters.
But the film's plot and screenplay was weak. The second half was a complete mess. Distributors and exhibitors lost a lot of money on this film.
Ishkq in Paris
Cast: Preity Zinta, Rhehan Malliek, Isabelle Adjani
Director: Prem Raj
Release date: May 24
Ishkq in Paris is a much-delayed and stale-looking film.
People had no expectations from the film, especially from the hero. His real name is Gaurav Chanana, but he changed it to Rhehan Malliek. He has earlier worked in duds like Woh Tera Naam Tha, Zinda and Kajraare.
The badly written script was loosely based on the Hollywood film, Before Sunrise.
Preity Zinta's attempt at a comeback failed; it's time she started acting her age instead of playing bubbly young girls.
Yamla Pagla Deewana 2
Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Neha Sharma, Kristina Akheeva
Director: Sangeeth Sivan
Release date: June 7
A badly conceived film, it was made purely to make money on the goodwill of the first film, Yamla Pagla Deewana, which was a hit.
It had no plot and was badly directed.
Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby Deol were clearly out of form, and didn't look as involved as they did in the first film.
Shortcut Romeo
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ameesha Patel, Puja Gupta
Director: Susi Ganesh
Release date: June 21
The producer-director of the film Susi Ganesh had limited funds to release the film. That's why he couldn't give it a proper release, and it did not release in many multiplexes. In fact, the last few promotions of the film were sponsored by Ameesha Patel.
Even though it was a bad remake of Susi Ganesh's Tamil film Thiruttu Payale, if it had released on more screens, it would have made more money.
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