Raksha Bandhan: Trade experts share why Akshay Kumar's film tanked miserably at box office | Exclusive

It's been a week since Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha and Akshay Kumar's Raksha Bandhan was released in cinemas, and they both underperformed at the box office. Laal Singh Chaddha was facing netizens' wrath for a month, and Aanand L Rai's film was considered to be an apt release for the festive period of Raksha Bandhan. However, even Akshay Kumar's film met with a disappointing result, and the audience couldn't connect with the film. 

We at DNA, got in touch with trade experts to get an insight behind the unexpected reception of Raksha Bandhan, and their inputs will make you think about the changing trend, audience expectations, and Bollywood's standing in Indian cinema. 

Noted expert Komal Nahta agreed that he found the trailer of Raksha Bandhan more appealing than Laal Singh Chaddha, but his expectation went for a toss after he watched the film. "I thought that the film would appeal in smaller centres, and I was right about it. The film got its audience in smaller centres, and it is doing better than in cities. But once I saw the film, I actually felt that it had no chance in big cities. It's a dated subject, and the comedy was 'chichorapan,'" He stated. 

Another trade expert, Sumit Kadel shared that despite the positive response from the audience, people didn't turn up for RB because they have now gotten fatigued from the actor. "His film comes at regular intervals, and the audience isn't showing that much curiosity in his films. Sadly, the film will end its lifetime under Rs 50 crores, and it's beyond explanations." 

READ: Did #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha affect Aamir Khan's film? Trade experts react | Exclusive

Ramesh Bala, a profound trade expert stated that the subject of Raksha Bandhan isn't a massy film like Sooryavanshi, Rowdy Rathore, or Housefull 4. "People have always expected mass entertainer from Kumar and this wasn't a typical Akki film. So, this could be another reason behind the disappointing performance of the film."

Komal, Sumit and Ramesh agreed with the fact that due to the emergence of OTT, the box office dynamics have drastically changed. They even asserted that such preachy, social-drama films aren't working on big screens. As per their analysis, people would enjoy such a film in the comfort of their space, and such movies had their audience in cinema pre-pandemic.

Sumit even added that he is surprised as Ek Villain Returns performed better than Raksha Bandhan, "The gap between lifetime collection of Raksha Bandhan and Ek Villain Returns would be just Rs 5-10 crores. Between EVR and LSC, the gap will be between Rs 15-18 crores... such is the scenario."