After Laal Singh Chaddha-Raksha Bandhan fail to cross Rs 50 crore mark, safe to call them big FLOPS?

After several flops from the Hindi film industry in 2022 and films failing to draw audience to the theatres, barring a few, all eyes were on Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar's movies Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan, respectively. But unfortunately, the two Independence Day long weekend releases -- Aamir Khan's long-awaited, mega-hyped Laal Singh Chaddha and the Akshay Kumar-starrer Raksha Bandha, both tanked at the box office.

For Aamir, Laal Singh Chaddha has been his worst commercially since his 2000 film Mela, despite getting a five-day holiday weekend, starting with Raksha Bandhan on August 11 and ending with Independence Day. And it has been his second successive flop after the Thugs of Hindostan, which bombed despite the additional presence of Amitabh Bachchan.

For Akshay Kumar, Raksha Bandhan has been his third successive dud -- starting with Bachchan Pandey, which got wiped out by The Kashmir Files, and Samrat Prithviraj, despite the film being endorsed by the BJP top brass and made tax-free in three states.

READ: Karthikeya 2 Hindi: Netizens demand Laal Singh Chaddha-Raksha Bandhan shows be replaced with Nikhil Siddhartha's film

Neither of the two films has been able to recover even a part of the money that went into producing them -- and much of this money, in fact, was spent on the fees of their leading stars. Laal Singh Chaddha was reportedly made on a budget of Rs 180 crore, as per businesstoday.in. Raksha Bandhan, on the other hand, was made on a budget of Rs 115 crore, according to bollymoviereviewz.com.

As for how much the two films collection during the extended weekend. As per trade analyst Taran Adarsh, Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha collected Rs 45.83 crore (India biz.) in five days whereas Raksha Bandhan minted Rs 34.47 crore.

"#LaalSinghChaddha is rejected... #LSC *5-day* total is lower than *Day 1* total of #ThugsOfHindostan [₹ 50.75 cr; #Hindi version], do the math... Thu 11.70 cr [#RakshaBandhan], Fri 7.26 cr, Sat 9 cr, Sun 10 cr, Mon 7.87 cr [#IndependenceDay]. Total: ₹ 45.83 cr. #India biz.," Taran Adarsh tweeted.

In a separate tweet he wrote, ""#RakshaBandhan is a non-performer... Fails to hit double digits despite multiple holidays... 5-day total is a complete shocker... Thu 8.20 cr [#RakshaBandhan], Fri 6.40 cr, Sat 6.51 cr, Sun 7.05 cr, Mon 6.31 cr [#IndependenceDay]. Total: ₹ 34.47 cr. #India biz."

Meanwhile, South film Karthikeya 2, starring actor Nikhil Siddhartha is giving tough competition to Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan. The film has grown exponentially in the Hindi market and netizens have been demanding that Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar's films be replaced with karthikeya 2's shows in theares. Several media houses also reported that many of the shows of the two films were cancelled across India due to no bookings.

It is as clear as daylight that Bollywood stars are not drawing audiences in post-Covid India, whose worldview has been altered by storyline-driven original content streaming on OTT platforms. And for the first time in its history, Bollywood has neither a bankable star, nor a formula that works, not even music, which used to be its USP till not long ago.

At least Laal Singh Chaddha has had the biggest opening in the overseas market after the other commercial failure, 83, and it may just be able to recover some money in China, where Aamir has a big fan following, but Raksha Bandhan has sunk without a trace.

In fact, according to the trade media, among the films that have had the highest opening weekends this year, two are pan-India productions -- KGF 2 and RRR; one is the sleeper hit, The Kashmir Files; and three are Hollywood releases, Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love & Thunder and Jurassic World Dominion.

Of the four Bollywood films that made the cut to the above list, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2` (Rs 215 crore) and Gangubai Kathiawadi (Rs 153 crore) are the only two to figure among the top 10 grossers of 2022 across languages.

Neither of them has been powered by a superstar. One was led by the rising Kartik Aaryan. The other by a woman, Alia Bhatt -- historically, it has not been easy for a female-centric film to do well in India.

Seven of the remaining eight top-grossers (the eighth is The Kashmir Files) are from the South -- KGF 2, RRR, the Kamal Haasan magnum opus Vikram, Kichcha Sudeep's 3D Kannada movie Vikrant Rona, Tamil actioner Beast, Mahesh Babu's Sarkaru Vaali Paata and James, featuring the late Kannada mega star, Puneeth Rajkumar.

Jugjugg Jeeyo with Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor is at No. 11 and even No. 12 is from deep down South -- the Tamil Valimai, starring Ajith Kumar and Karthikeya. At least Bollywood can take solace from the fact that it has been produced by Boney Kapoor!

Meanwhile, Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandha's failure at the box office was preceded by the ignominious failures of Shamshera (Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt) and Ranveer Singh's Jayeshbhai Jordaar.

Now, all eyes are on Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra. With the film's teaser and sonogs created buzz online, industry insiders and traded experts are hoping that the Ayan Mukerji directorial helps to turn the fate for Hindi film industry which has been struggling so far in 2022.

(With inputs from IANS)