As 2024 comes to an end, it’s safe to say that it was a bittersweet year for the Indian film industry. While Allu Arjun and Prabhas delivered grand hits like Pushpa 2 The Rule and Kalki 2898 AD, respectively, a few films that had massive potential and hype failed to perform well at the box office.
(Also Read: Shankar has ‘moved on’ from Kamal Haasan-starrer Indian 2 debacle, gives update on Indian 3 release: ‘I am happy’)
Several high-budget films that featured superstars failed to make an impact on the audience and eventually flopped at the box office. Here’s a look at some of the year’s biggest disappointments-
Indian 2
The highly-anticipated sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Indian proved to be a big disappointment. Superstar Kamal Haasan reprised his role as Senapathy, a vigilante fighting corruption. The sequel carried immense hype but it opened to mixed to negative reviews from the audience. Made on budget of ₹250 crore, the film managed to earn only ₹148.33 crore at the box office worldwide.
Kanguva
Suriya’s Kanguva, directed by Siva, was one of the most ambitious and highly anticipated projects of the year. The film boasts of an ensemble cast with Bobby Deol playing the villain. It was touted to be the next Baahubali, however, fell flat upon release. The film managed to earn only ₹106.25 crore against the massive budget of ₹350 crore.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan
Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff came together for the first time in an action film, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Despite having being made on a massive budget of ₹350 crore, the film failed to attract audience to theatres after day 1 and eventually ended its run at the box office by earning only ₹111.49 crore. Helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the film became one of the biggest disasters of 2024.
Maidaan
Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan tells the inspiring story of Syed Abdul Rahim, the coach who shaped Indian football. While the film had a lot of potential to become one of the blockbusters for the year, frequent delays in its release and a clash with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan led to the film’s failure at the box office. Made on a massive budget of ₹250 crore, the film collected only ₹71 crore at the box office worldwide.
Lal Salaam
Directed by Aishwarya Rajinikanth, the sports action film, made on a budget of ₹80-90 crore, failed miserably at the box office despite Rajinikanth’s extended cameo. The film received mixed reviews from critics and the audience, which impacted its box office run. The film earned only ₹17.46 crore at the Indian box office and ₹32.65 crore worldwide.
Thangalaan
Vikram’s Thangalaan saw him in five roles alongside an ensemble star cast, including Parvathy Thiruvothu, Malavika Mohanan, Daniel Caltagirone, Pasupathy, and Hari Krishnan. Though the cast’s performance impressed the audience, the criticism for historical inaccuracies, visual effects and writing impacted the film’s box office run. The film earned ₹68 crore worldwide at the box office, failing to even recover the budget ( ₹100-150 crore).
Saindhav
Saindhav marked Venkatesh Daggubati’s 75th movie. Despite the buzz around the movie and star performers like Venkatesh, Arya, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the film opened to mixed to negative response from the audience due to its weak script and direction. Sadly, even before the end of the first week, the collection at the box office went below ₹1 crore on a daily basis, and the film closed its collection at ₹18 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹55 crore.
Double iSmart
A sequel to the hit film iSmart Shankar, Double iSmart, had a huge buzz around it before its release. Helmed by Puri Jagannadh, the film has Sanjay Dutt as the main antagonist and Ram Pothineni as the protagonist. The film got negative reviews upon release and within ten days, it was almost out of theatres in the Telugu states. While the film’s producers had blockbuster expectations, it emerged to be a box office bomb, earning only ₹19 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹90 crore.
Mr Bachchan
Another big disappointment this year was Ravi Teja’s Mr Bachchan. A remake of Ajay Devgn’s hit film, Raid, the film clashed with Double iSmart on Independence Day and received negative reviews from the critics. It failed to entertain the audience and the box office collection started declining after day 2. Eventually, the film became a huge box office bomb, earning only ₹13.5 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹70 crore.