Thugs Of Hindostan: 5 Reasons Why Aamir Khan’s Film Couldn’t Take Off

Aamir Khan probably has the biggest brand value among Bollywood superstars. After content-driven Dangal and Secret Superstar, he was expected to deliver another good film in Thugs of Hindostan, but that didn’t happen. The film is struggling hard at the box office and its business is likely to dip further during the coming weekdays.

As per film trade website Box Office India, the film has grossed Rs 5-5.25 crore net on Monday, which takes its total tally to Rs 122.50 crore.

Film trade analyst Tara Adarsh also tweeted about Thugs of Hindostan’s first four days of business. As per Adarsh, it has earned Rs 123 crore including its business in Tamil and Telugu. This performance is less than average considering Thugs of Hindostan was released across about 5000 screens.

Here are the five reasons behind Thugs of Hindostan’s unsuccessful run at the ticket window:

High ticket prices: One of the biggest releases Bollywood has ever seen, Thugs of Hindostan started well by earning approximately Rs 52 crore on its opening day. With this film, Yash Raj Films, the promoters, decided to increase the ticket prices. There were reports that the exhibitors were asked to raise their prices by at least 10% more than Sanju. That made the middle class apprehensive about the film, making watching it with family difficult.

Read: Thugs of Hindostan Movie Review

Driving promotional campaign around glitz: While most Bollywood producers release video songs of their film, YRF put out only the teaser of the Suraiyya song featuring Katrina Kaif. It seemed they are placing their film as the extension of the song while the audience wanted it to be an Aamir Khan film, a film with substance. Unfortunately, the film didn’t even utilise Katrina who was in it mostly for songs and dance. She had a potentially strong character but it got lost in the greed for glamour.

Too formula driven: The basic set-up of Thugs of Hindostan looks straight out of a ‘70s film. A period film doesn’t necessarily need to use ancient storytelling techniques. A slain king’s daughter seeking revenge, a caretaker warrior with a falcon flying around his horse and a treacherous East India Company officer, we have seen it all, and probably in a better way. Though Aamir tried to deceive the audience with his antics but without much success.

Average CGI: The producers have spent good money on their film, it wasn’t enough in the end, at least where it mattered the most, Computer-Generated Images. The younger lot of the movie-goers has seen all sorts of films including big-budget Hollywood sci-fi and adventure-fantasy films. They wouldn’t care if your film is not at par with the world standards.

Overestimating star power: The film was promoted as the collaboration of two superstars who have never worked together before. This couldn’t mask a tired older star whose action scenes appeared flimsy and out of place. A great voice can’t be the only selling point of a character that was over-dramatic and too preoccupied with mouthing dialogues reminding us of moral science classes.

It’s true that Aamir’s past films have raised our expectations but that’s also the reason his films get a good opening. However, he can’t be excused for shoddy content.

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