The risk with making expensive films is that it becomes even tougher to recover costs. That is why even after Brahmastra earned Rs 400 crore worldwide, many still were reluctant to call it a hit as its production budget was huge. For this reason, many of the most expensive Indian films ever made are box office disappointments and the biggest flop in the hisory of Indian cinema has lost a whopping Rs 225 crore.
The biggest flop film in Bollywood and Indian cinema
The film that has lost the most amount of money at the box office in India is Adipurush. Made on a reported budget of Rs 550 crore, Adipurush made Rs 288 crore net in India, and another reported Rs 35-38 crore net overseas. This gives the film a worldwide net haul of around Rs 325 crore, which means the film had a net loss of an astounding Rs 225 crore. The film’s worldwide gross earning is higher (just over Rs 350 crore) but that figure includes taxes as well.
The backlash to Adipurush’s box office disappointment
Adipurush was based on the epic Ramayan and was heavily criticised for its loose adaptation of the work, considered holy by Hindus. The film was also critically panned and many demands were made to ban or boycott it. Several cases were filed in various courts against the makers, director Om Raut, and dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir for hurting religious sentiments. As a result, director Om Raut and other makes disappeared from public eye for weeks after the film released. The film starred Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, and Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles.
Other major flops in Indian cinema
Before Adipurush, the record for the biggest flop in Indian cinema rested with Radhe Shyam, which had lost roughly Rs 170 crore at the box office. Incidentally, that film also starred Prabhas in the lead, alongside Pooja Hegde. Other big films that lost the most amount of money at the box office include Samrat Prithviraj (loss of Rs 140 crore), Shamshera (Rs 100 crore), Telugu film Acharya (Rs 80 crore), Kannada film Kabzaa (Rs 80 crore), Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha (Rs 70 crore), and Thugs of Hindostan (Rs 60 crore).
