So the much talked about action drama, ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, has released, starring famous actors Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Sheikh in lead roles. Contrary to the expectations, the movie turned out to be a massive flop, with unfavorable reviews, and massive thumbs down from all corners.
With that, one tends to wonder, if the successful reign of Aamir Khan has come to an unceremonious stop with as massive a flop, as this one. Going by the unfavorable reviews, ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ is going to be another major box office failure of 2018, after the likes of ‘Mulk’, ‘Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3’ and ‘Namaste England’ tanked at the box office.
To be honest, it’s been 13 years since any Aamir Khan movie flopped, the last one being ‘Mangal Pandey : The Rising’, based on the legendary freedom fighter who ignited the Great Rebellion of 1857. Since then, he had the dubious distinction of not getting a single flop for more than 5 years consecutively, next only to the likes of Rajesh Khanna, who has the record of 14 consecutive hits in less than three years.
Besides, Aamir Khan is well known for being a trendsetter in terms of financial success. With his flick Ghajini, based on the Tamil film of the same name, Aamir Khan paved way for the iconic Rs. 100 crore club officially, and the movie earned Rs. 232 crore worldwide. If that wasn’t enough, he even opened the doors for the Rs. 200 crore club with the movie ‘3 Idiots’, that released just the next year. The movie officially earned Rs. 460 crore worldwide on a budget of Rs. 55 crores.
The campaign continued with successes like ‘Peepli Live’, ‘Delhi Belly’, ‘Talaash’, ‘Dhoom 3’. Even if they were not financially successful, the movies at least had the critics backing. Aamir Khan broke further records as he entered the Rs. 300+ crore club with ‘PK’.
His decision to venture into international market reaped massive benefits, when his magnum opus, ‘Dangal’, based on the life of legendary wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, was released throughout China. Made on a budget of Rs. 70 crores, Dangal earned a whopping lifetime total of Rs. 2386 crores, making this the highest grossing film of India ever. As of now, this is also the highest grossing sports film around the world.
Even in films, where Aamir Khan wasn’t a prominent face, but a supporting actor or at the best, an extended cameo, he made his mark, be it in ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ as the voice over of the narrator, Pluto, who is the family dog of the cantankerous Mehras, or in ‘Secret Superstar’, where he essayed the role of the quirky musician Shakti Kumar, he excelled at his performances, making both prominent box office hits.
However, with the fall of ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, Aamir Khan will have to act quick in order to salvage his pride at the box office, otherwise the day is not far, when the ‘Mr. Perfectionist’ would find himself on the same road as Amitabh Bachchan was once, before ‘KBC’ came to his rescue in early 2001.