The year 2024 has been tough for Bollywood, with several highly anticipated films failing to meet expectations. Despite big budgets, star-studded casts, and massive marketing efforts, these movies fell flat at the box office, disappointing audiences and critics alike. Here’s a look at some of the biggest flops of 2024.
1. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan
Starring the duo of Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the film was devised as a ₹250 crore blockbuster. The film promised explosive action sequences, elaborate set pieces, and the undeniable charm of its lead actors. However, the lack of a cohesive storyline and the over-reliance on action over substance led to its downfall. Very soon, audiences got bored of seeing repetitive action sequences with a hollow plot. Despite the star power of the movie, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’s lifetime collections were restricted to only ₹65 crore. The mismatch between the budget and earnings here was so huge that it made it a disaster and one of the biggest flops of the year.
2. Maidaan
Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan was supposed to be one of the cinematic successes since it dealt with the true, inspirational story of the golden era of Indian football. Helmed by Amit Sharma and made on a big budget of ₹220 crore, the film was sold as an emotionally stirring sports drama that would tear up the heartstrings of every Indian. However, despite a powerful performance by Ajay Devgn, the pacing and emotional engagement of the film went completely haywire. The storyline seemed too stretched, and the impact which such a historic drama should have been able to create got lost. As things stand, the movie could only garner ₹50 crore at the box office, much below its actual requirement to recover the cost. In fact, with the grand ambition that Maidaan was made with, this miserable performance ensured that it turned out to be one of the biggest financial disasters of the year.
3. Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha had Ajay Devgn and Tabu playing the lead pair in this drama with full promise, drama, depth, and emotion. The project that wanted to delve into the intricacies of relationships across a time of 24 years was helmed by Neeraj Pandey. He had based it on the English-Korean flick Past Lives. The project battery powered by a hundred and twenty crore found the box office accepting only 12 crore in returns. The visibility of this wafer-thin plot, spun around Ajay Devgan, or Krishna, a 23-year jail-serving convict, was on the minus side of the visibility route. But in doing so, the film had been over-dramatized, and with a weak storyline to support that, there was no coming back. Considering that the budget was high for this film, the amount it ended up earning was extremely disheartening.
4. Sarfira
Sarfira was supposed to be a hard-hitting drama that would drive home a point. Starring newcomers like Radhika Madan alongside veterans like Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and more, it was a ₹150-crore film which, despite being high on plot, failed to win too many hearts because of its dark and hard-to-follow screenplay. The almost melodramatically grim mood the whole film projects, the plot meandered all over, leaving most unimpressed. Instead of keeping the plot hard-hitting, Sarfira was so embroiled in itself that it failed to capture our interest. Lifetime collections of a meager ₹ 22 crore mean the movie could only manage a fizzle and a big flop to its name on the list of most noted flops of the year. The flop proved that even a big-budget movie can hardly fill the vacant seat at theaters due to the absence of a smart script and engaging storytelling.
5. Khel Khel Mein
Khel Khel Mein tried to make entertainment a subject that thrills, with a huge ensemble cast that included Akshay Kumar, Taapsee Pannu, and Vani Kapoor among others. Having been made on a budget of ₹150 crores, it was considered more of a critical player at the box office. However, the mismatched plot and less impressive performances took the film down with the audience. The suspense elements fell flat; the humor wasn’t as humorous as where it was supposed to be. Hence, it has been conjectured that the lifetime aggregation of Khel Khel Mein was only around ₹30 crore, which has fallen short of the amount that the movie needed to collect to recover the expenses of the movie. Due to the miserable performance of the movie despite the effort put in by the cast, the movie was labeled as yet another disaster of 2024.
2024 has signaled to the audience and the filmmaker that not every star and huge budget can ensure success for a movie. Be it Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Maidaan, Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, Sarfira, and Khel Khel Mein, all fell victim to bad execution and inability to happen on the stage in front of the audience. Now, all these movies scream for good scripts and audience engagement at the end of the day for one to enjoy the cinematic experience. These hopefully turn out to be lessons as the industry is gearing up in the march forward towards the need of the hour, and the focus will be on content rather than being a spectacle for spectators.
