‘Shamshera’ is Ranbir Kapoor’s 7th flop; biggest after 'Bombay Velvet'

Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Shamshera is the actor’s seventh flop in his career so far and the biggest after the 2015 film Bombay Velvet, wherein he starred opposite Anushka Sharma. The film is facing a decline in collections, and will be forced to compete with John Abraham and Disha Patani-starrer Ek Villain Returns, that releases today.  

Flop films in Ranbir Kapoor’s career

Prior to Karan Malhotra-directed Shamshera, Kapoor has seen several flops. These include Saawariya (2007), Besharam (2013), Roy (2015), Bombay Velvet (2015), Tamasha (2015) and Jagga Jasoos (2017). Shamshera is said to be made at a budget of Rs 100-150 crore and the film has raked in Rs 37 crore to Rs 41 crore so far. Lifetime collection of the film is likely to be Rs 65 to Rs 75 crore.  

Ranbir Kapoor’s debut film Saawariya was made on a budget of Rs 45 crore and mopped up Rs 29.10 crore at the box office. Saawariya also marked the debut of Sonam Kapoor. Similarly, his 2013 film Besharam was made at a budget of Rs 83 crore.  

2015 was a particularly bad year for Kapoor as three of his films – Roy, Bombay Velvet and Tamasha -- bombed at the box office. Roy was a box office flop by a small margin since it collected Rs 47.68 crore and was made at a budget of Rs 50 crore. Anurag Kashyap-directorial Bombay Velvet was made at a budget of Rs 118 crore and collected Rs 30.36 crore only.  

Tamasha was made at a budget of Rs 87 crore and collected Rs 68 crore. Anurag Basu-directorial Jagga Jasoos also tanked at the box office and could rake in only Rs 69.31 crore. Besides Kapoor, Jagga Jasoos also featured Katrina Kaif, Saurabh Shukla and Saswata Chatterjee in pivotal roles.  

Shamshera at the box office

“Shamshera has huge production value and big sets but it is a movie without a soul,” film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh told Business Today. Commenting on the many flops Bollywood has delivered in 2022, Adarsh underscored, “The warning bells are ringing for the Hindi film industry.” 

Film producer and business analyst Girish Johar, said, “The audience did not really come to the theatres plus it had very bad reviews.” For Yash Raj Films, the option is nothing else but to go back to the drawing board, according to Johar.  

Here’s what who's saying on the debacle

Director Karan Malhotra, who made his debut with the 2011 film Agneepath, took to Twitter and shared a long note after Shamshera bombed at the box office. The note read, “My Dearest Shamshera, you are majestic the way you are. It is important for me to express myself on this platform because here is where all the love, the hate, the celebration and the humiliation exists for you. I want to unimaginably apologise to you for abandoning you for these past few days as I could not handle the hate and rage.” 

After this, Sanjay Dutt shared a long note on his official Instagram account. The note read, “Shamshera found a lot of people hating on it; some of the hate came from people who didn’t even watch it. I find it horrible that people don’t respect the hard work we all put in. I admire Karan as a filmmaker, and mostly as a person. He is one of the best directors I have worked with in my long career of four decades.” Dutt was seen playing the antagonist Daroga Shudh Singh in Shamshera.  

About Shamshera

The film released in theatres on July 22 across 4,350 screens in India and 1,200 screens globally in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. It is a period film set in 1800s and India’s fight to gain independence.  

Shamshera focuses on a warrior tribe that is imprisoned and tortured by a ruthless general Daroga Shudh Singh. Besides Ranbir Kapoor, the film features Vaani Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Saurabh Shukla and Ronit Bose Roy in significant roles.  

(With inputs from India Today) 

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