When India’s most expensive film bombed on Diwali, theatres demanded refund

Diwali weekends are usually reserved for the release of the biggest and most-anticipated films in Bollywood. Given that it is the biggest festive weekend for much of the Hindi-speaking population in India and overseas, the biggest stars line up to reserve these dates in advance. More often than not, Diwali releases are successful, too. But occasionally, a film bombs at the box office despite all the hype, Diwali festivities, and star power. The last time this happened was barely six years ago. (Also read: Aamir Khan on apologizing for Thugs of Hindostan: ‘I was very sorry, hurt and upset that we went wrong’)
Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan was the most expensive Indian film made then. The film was released in November 2018 and had an estimated budget of ₹300 crore. Trade pundits had said that the film would need to collect over ₹500 crore in India to be a hit. But the combined star power of Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Katrina Kaif seemed enough for that, at least in the makers’ minds.
Thugs started well, breaking all collection records on the opening day, minting ₹52 crore. From there, the only way was down. Bad reviews and extremely negative word of mouth sank the film as it plummeted to just ₹6 crore by day four and less than a crore by the second Monday. In the end, Thugs of Hindostan only collected ₹151 crore nett in India and ₹322 crore gross worldwide, a rather disappointing figure.
By the second week, exhibitors were blaming Yash Raj Films – the film’s producers – and Aamir Khan for their losses as several shows across India were going empty. Mid-Day reported that many theatre owners demanded a refund from YRF. “As is the practice with YRF, the studio had taken on the distribution responsibilities. The exhibitors agreed to the minimum-guarantee deal as they expected handsome profits from the big-budget film, but the tables have turned. So, we are planning to approach the sub-distributors [YRF] to get a refund. We hope YRF, Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan will help us in this situation, else there is a possibility of a few theatres having to even shut down,” an anonymous exhibitor told Mid-Day.
Thugs of Hindostan was one of the biggest box office disappointments in the history of Indian cinema. And Aamir Khan, who was on the back of a golden run at the box office, took full responsibility for the film tanking. He apologised to the fans after the film’s release.
In a chat with Hindustan Times in 2019, the actor said, “I’ve always felt responsible for my work, but for the last 18-19 years, I didn’t have a film that didn’t do well, so that’s why people might have felt I was doing this for the first time. And especially because it was a much-awaited film; people had high expectations, so I was very sorry, hurt and upset that we went wrong. I felt emotionally that I should address it and apologise to people for not living up to the expectations.”
Thugs of Hindostan is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.