#2017Recap: Highly anticipated films of 2017 that bombed at the box office

By Fenil Seta -

December 30, 2017 - 10:09 AM IST

Like every year, 2017 was no exception - several films which were expected to be huge grossers and high on satisfaction failed miserably. Bollywood Hungama, in this special feature lists the films that bombed at the box office. (Note: Films are listed as per their release dates).

#2017Recap: Highly anticipated films of 2017 that bombed at the box office

1. OK Jaanu
The Tamil original OK Kanmani was loved for its modern and progressive take on relationships. But somehow, the Hindi remake featuring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor couldn’t connect with the viewers. The chemistry was there but only till an extent. That the audiences didn’t take up to the film was reflected in its box office collections.

2. Rangoon
This was one of the biggest disasters of recent times thanks to its huge cost. Despite the presence of Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranaut in the film’s cast and despite Vishal Bhardwaj helming the project and Sajid Nadiadwala backing it, the film just didn’t work owing to its long length, weird narrative and a disappointing climax.

3. Meri Pyaari Bindu
The film never looked interesting due to its sad promotional strategy. And even the film had nothing special to look forward to. The confused plot and convoluted screenplay turned out to be the film’s biggest culprits. It had a limited pull anyways due to its urban and niche feel. But even its target audiences royally ignored this romcom.

4. Sarkar 3
All those few people who still had hopes from Ram Gopal Varma completely gave up after watching Sarkar 3. It’s bewildering what exactly the purpose of this film was as it had story as such. The makers just tried to encash on the franchise’s name. Besides, the corny dialogues made things worse. The film was marginally better in and around Mumbai but overall, it was a poor fare.

5. Raabta
Raabta dealt with two tracks and both were silly and anything but entertaining. In the modern-day track, Sushant Singh Rajput went overboard with his overacting while he got worse in the other track that went back 800 years. It was disgusting to see characters talking Hindi in a ‘Game Of Thrones’ setup. The film was made on a huge cost and despite the aggressive promotions, the day 1 was poor. The word of mouth was bad and it turned out to be one of the biggest flops of the year.

6. Tubelight
Despite ‘thanda’ trailers, Tubelight was expected to rock the show as it starred Salman Khan and was directed by Kabir Khan, both of whom have had successful collaborations like Ek Tha Tiger and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. But Tubelight was a colossal disappointment. The film’s writing was wafer thin and poor. Salman Khan as a nervous, shy man-child failed to impress audiences. The film was sold for a high price due to Salman’s track record. The losses faced by the distributors were so severe that Salman had to refund them.

7. Jagga Jasoos
Thanks to the numerous delays, it was an open secret that Jagga Jasoos had not shaped up well. However, the film had promise and its first half was enjoyable and decent. But the movie slipped heavily in the second half and became highly unconvincing and scattered. The climax shows Jagga providing a solution to end terrorism and it was laughable. The opening was decent but as the word of mouth was not entirely positive; the collections didn’t turn out to be great overall.

8. Munna Michael
Director Sabbir Khan seemed to have taken audiences for granted with this film. Otherwise, how do you explain the wafer thin, flawed script that was no way close to Sabbir’s previous film, Baaghi? The finale featuring Tiger Shroff getting shot and still travelling from Delhi to Mumbai by air and then dancing for a competition took the idea of cinematic liberty to an unconvincing level. No wonder, the film got thumbs down from the audiences and thereby, at the ticket window as well.

9. Jab Harry Met Sejal
The promos didn’t seem very promising and the film was even worse. The entire idea of a girl trying to find her ring across Europe was too difficult to digest. Also, the suspense over the ring’s location was a downer. Viewers failed to understand why Anushka Sharma was trying to hit on Shah Rukh Khan while SRK’s back story was never shown. Hence, the connect was just not there. This film was a bigger shocker than Tubelight as the latter at least crossed the Rs. 100 crore mark. But Jab Harry Met Sejal’s collections ended at a low Rs. 64.33 crore. Just like Salman, even SRK had to refund distributors.

10. A Gentleman
The chemistry between Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez is super sizzling while the twist in the tale at the interval point does catch your attention. But that’s about it – the film has nothing much to offer and the various developments in the second half are devoid of common sense and logic. Suniel Shetty was menacing but he was wasted completely. It released on the Ganesh Chaturthi holiday and promotions were extensive. But audiences were just not interested, causing this film to bomb at the box office.

11. Simran
Simran failed on so many levels. The writing was inconsistent and the fact that the lead character was a stone-hearted person didn’t work at all. The makers attempted to make it a dark comedy but they failed in their endeavour. Kangana Ranaut disappointed as the actor and unofficial writer of the film. The film was directed by Hansal Mehta but his trademark stamp was missing. Box office wise, it had a poor opening and the collections never improved.

12. Bhoomi
Sanjay Dutt’s comeback vehicle Bhoomi made for a painful watch. Its 90s style narrative and beaten to death plot didn’t work at all. At the box office, it failed miserably and a small-budget film like Newton did double the business than Bhoomi.

13. Haseena Parkar
Haseena Parkar was too superficial and unexciting with Shraddha Kapoor being the only saving grace. Box office wise, it had a very poor opening and never took off due to bad word of mouth.

14. Chef
Chef had its minuses but overall, it was a well-made entertainer that charmed audiences with its simplicity. But the film seemed too niche and not at all impressive from the promos. That it released during the dry pre-Diwali period added to its problems. There were chances of this film failing but nobody expected the film to have a negligible opening. A Saif Ali Khan film doing just Rs. 6.37 crore sent shockwaves!