From Niu Lai to Main Vaapas Aaunga- 4 films that first flopped, but soon went on to become hits
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
There's no business like show business. Where fates change every Friday, the ticket-window results throw up as much drama as the films themselves. And this year itself has witnessed two dramatic stories, where the films initially opened to a disastrous response. But then, something changed, and they were suddenly success stories. Here's a round-up of a few such films that were written off originally, but scripted a different story soon after:
Adding to this, Stills from Niu Lai and Main Vaapas Aaunga Main Vaapas Aaunga Imtiaz Ali 's partition drama Main Vaapas Aaunga rolled out on June 12 earlier this year, on a very slow note. It collected a little above ₹ 1 crore rupees on its first day, and was almost written-off by the trade. But then, things shifted. There was suddenly a barrage of reels going widely shared on social media, people sharing that they were breaking down uncontrollably during the climax of the movie. On top of that, Imtiaz himself started visiting cinema halls across the country, meeting the audiences and discussing the movie casually. The tide turned, and the movie eventually touched ₹ 100 crores worldwide.
Meanwhile, A 2026 Chinese animated movie, made by just a mother-son duo, has left social media shocked. The movie, ridiculed for its VFX and quality, rolled out in 245 theatres on August 5, and the screen count dwindled to just four after a week. However, the amount of mockery about the movie led to a sudden spike in audience curiosity and as a result, cinema admissions. Today, the movie has emerged as a big hit, and it's collections stand at roughly a million dollars. A section of people is in fact praising it for being "an antidote" to AI-generated content.
Notably, Vidhu Vinod Chopra directed this 2023 movie, based on the real-life story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma and his struggle before he emerged successful. The movie, starring Vikrant Massey and Medha Shankr, itself had a similar trajectory. It collected a crore rupees at the ticket-window on its first day. But the strong word of mouth led to a subsequent hike, with a lifetime run of ₹ 69 crores worldwide. It was made on a budget of ₹ 20 crores.
As per the latest buzz, Imagine people not supporting your movie in theatres when it releases originally- but then, nine years later, it ends up creating a record! This happened with actors Rakul Preet Singh-Bellamkonda Srinivas' Jaya Janaki Nayaka. It didn't perform upon its rollout in 2017, but today, it has become the first full-length feature movie in history to cross 1 billion views on a single YouTube upload.
In further updates, Rishabh Suri writes for the daily Entertainment & Lifestyle supplement HT City. From Bollywood to Hollywood, from Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam films, to OTT and television- he covers it all.
Source: Hindustan Times