This flop of Hrithik Roshan was rejected by Aamir Khan, Arjun Rampal, was based on real-life event, later became...

Hrithik Roshan has a rich filmography, with some blockbusters (read War, Krrish 3, Dhoom 2), some superhits (Super 30, Agneepath, Koi Mil Gaya), and a few flops. However, here's his film that flopped commercially, but has earned cult status. This film was the second directorial of the new-age director, who was coming after a superhit film. The movie was produced on a good scale, it starred an ensemble cast of talented actors including Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Boman Irani, Sushant Singh, and Om Puri. Despite earning rave reviews, the film tanked at the box office, leaving the director and his father writer shocked. 

Hrithik Roshan's flop film that became a cult classic is...

Lakshya (2004), Farhan Akhtar's second directorial is a coming-of-age war drama, set on the backdrop of the 1999 Kargil War. Lakshya is the story of Karan Shergill (Hrithik), an aimless, lazy young man, the son of a wealthy businessman from Delhi, who joins the Indian Army and matures into a battlefield hero just as war breaks out. 

Box office collection of Lakshya 

The film was released in the cinemas on June 18, 2004, with overwhelmingly positive reviews. Made on a budget of Rs 30 crores, the film grossed Rs 40 crores worldwide. Despite crossing the production cost the film was called a box office flop. Over the years, Lakshya gained a cult status, with moviegoers calling it Hrithik's career-best performance. 

Actors who rejected Lakshya 

As per the media reports, Aamir Khan was first considered to lead the film. However, the actor rejected the film as he was busy shooting Mangal Pandey: The Rising. Similarly, Arjun Rampal was offered the role of Jalal Akbar, but he rejected the film, and Sushant Singh replaced him. 

Farhan Akhtar's on Lakshya's failure 

At India Today's E-Conclave Inspiration, Farhan spoke about the failure of Lakshya. He said that dealing with Lakshya's failure was challenging for him, "The biggest challenge for any person in the industry is to deal with failure that you know is a big one, then immediately and very close on its heels is dealing with success, it’s the other one. Both are equally as challenging, so for me, when for the first time I faced, not creative failure but when I faced box office failure, it was post Lakshya, because Lakshya didn’t do well at the box office."

The impact of Lakshya 

Reportedly, when Director Farhan Akhtar revisited the Indian Military Academy after 15 years of the film. Nearly 70% of the gentlemen cadets told him they joined the Indian Military Academy after watching his movie.

Read: Meet Murlikant Petkar, inspired Kartik Aaryan's Chandu Champion, war hero, survived 9 bullets, then won Paralympic gold