Bollywood's Big Budget Boondoggles: 10 Biggest Box Office Flops of 2023

In 2023, a year that also saw record-breaking blockbusters like Jawan, Pathaan, and Gadar 2 revive the Indian film industry following the post-Covid slump, Bollywood witnessed a flurry of high-budget films failing to break even. Here are ten of the year's biggest box office busts.

Adipurush

Om Raut's mythological drama Adipurush, which starred Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan, and Kriti Sanon, was one of the year's biggest box office busts despite a ton of pre-release buzz. The majority of the film's worldwide earnings, which totaled around Rs 390 crore, came from its opening weekend. After that, the earnings started to decline. There have been reports that the film's budget was Rs 700 crore.

Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan Kisi Ka Bhai

Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, Salman Khan's Eid release, was a box office failure, grossing a mere Rs 182 crore worldwide. The film, which also starred Pooja Hegde, Shehnaaz Gill, Venkatesh Daggubati, Palak Tiwari, and Raghav Juyal, was directed by Farhad Samji and had trouble connecting with viewers.

Selfie

The movie Selfiee, starring Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi, did not perform well at the box office, grossing only Rs 23 crore worldwide. Despite its popular dance sequences, the Hindi version of the Malayalam movie Driving Licence, directed by Raj Mehta, did not succeed in attracting audiences to theaters.

Raniganj Mission

The box office performance of Akshay Kumar's survival drama Mission Raniganj, which also starred Parineeti Chopra, was subpar. Based on the 1989 collapse of the Raniganj Coalfields, the Tinu Suresh Desai-directed rescue drama only managed to make Rs 45 crore worldwide.

Shehzada

Shehzada, Kartik Aaryan's production debut and the Hindi version of the Telugu hit film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, was not able to break the Rs 50-crore mark worldwide. With Shahzada, directed by Rohit Dhawan, Kartik returned to playing the quirky yet endearing roles that have made him famous after a string of somber roles. Nevertheless, the comedy drama was unable to attract viewers to theaters and ended its global box office run at a loss of Rs 47.43 crore.

Ganapath: The Birth of a Hero

Ganapath: A Hero is Born, directed by Vikas Bahl, was intended to be an action-packed post-apocalyptic film. But the Amitabh Bachchan, Kriti Sanon, and Tiger Shroff film fell short of the hype, earning only mediocre reviews and failing to make an impression on viewers. Despite being released around Dussehra, it ended up earning a total of Rs 35.13 crore in revenue worldwide.

Bholaa

Bholaa, starring Ajay Devgn, was another big-budget movie that was met with a lackluster reception at the box office. Ajay Devgn's directing effort, a remake of the Tamil hit Kaithi, fell short of expectations, grossing just Rs 111.64 crore globally.

The War on Vaccines

Following the critical acclaim of The Kashmir Files, director Vivek Agnihotri pledged in The Vaccine War to tell the tale of the development of India's COVID-19 vaccine while providing a compelling portrayal of the COVID-19 era. Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher, Raima Sen, Sapthami Gowda, Pallavi Joshi, and Paritosh Sand starred in the scientific drama, but it bombed at the box office, earning a total of Rs 9.47 crore worldwide.

Tejas

Tejas, Kangana Ranaut's 2023 release, continued her run of bad box office performances. The Sarvesh Mewara-directed war drama, which Ronnie Screwvala produced, only made Rs 4.25 crore.

The Killer Lady

The action thriller The Ladykiller, directed by Ajay Bahl, was dogged by controversy from the moment it opened. The movie, which starred Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, had a very restricted theatrical run in a few Indian theaters. The film made a pitiful Rs 38,000 on its first day of release and only made a pitiful Rs 1 lakh in total revenue by the time it ended its theatrical run.

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