Flop films of 2009

After closing the year 2008 on a high note with hits like Dostana, Ghajini and Fashion to name a few, year 2009 didn't begin on a happy note. Barring a couple of stray successes, it has been a bloodbath at the box office. Almost 90 per cent of financiers have lost money.

Rakeysh Ompakash Mehra's much awaited Delhi-6 starring Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor hit the theatres in January but somehow could not relate to the audience. There were a lot of expectations from the director of Rang De Basanti but critics felt that the film lost its focus in between. But Sonam garnered a lot of appreciation for her role.

But despite the film being a dud at the Box Office, its music by maestro AR Rahman was a hit. Masakali, which had Sonam dancing with a pigeon over her head was a great hit.

Next came Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone starrer Chandni Chowk to China. The film earned Rs 330 million in its opening weekend. The film's total North American box office in the four weeks of running was $921,738. The film has earned Rs 75 crore worldwide making a modest profit. The film was rated a flop at the box office. The movie received mixed reviews. Taran Adarsh gave the movie 1.5/5 stars, calling it "a big, big, big letdown".

The film got one award nomination for Deepika Padukone at the 3rd Asian Film Awards. Akshay Kumar received a lot of criticism for this film and there were reports saying 'Is it the end of Akki's Midas Touch?'

The series of flops continued and next came SRK's home production Billu. The film earned Rs 23.65 crore during its first six weeks, but it was rated as a flop. It opened to good reviews. While reviewing the film, Derek Elley of Variety stated: "Bigtime Bollywood meets small-town India with quietly entertaining, finally moving results in Billu. Simple tale of friendship cleverly manages to bring together superstar Shah Rukh Khan, in full-on pin-up mode, with Irrfan Khan, who's developed into one of the industry's best character actors, in a movie that straddles both mainstream Hindi cinema and more specialty fare. It was reportedly a remake of Rajinikanth's Kuselan."

Shah Rukh Khan made an extended special appearance in the film, while Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, and Priyanka Chopra made guest appearances in item numbers.

When experts were busy figuring out the reason behind the dismal performances of all the movies at Box Office, came a romantic-thriller Aa Dekhan Zara starring Bipasha Basu and Neil Nitin Mukesh. This movie too didn't manage to break the jinx.

Director Ram Gopal Varma came out with yet another horror film in the form of Agyaat in August and added to the long list of 2009's flops. Upon release, the film met with mixed reviews and it received a mere 1 and a half star out of 5. Taran Adarsh gave this movie a rating of 3/5 saying "Ram Gopal Varma thinks differently."

The film had RGV's current muse Priyanka Kothari in the main lead.

Year 2009 proved to be another bad year for star kid Harman Baweja. In 2008 Harman failed to prove his mettle in his much-talked about launch pad Love Story 2050.

Victory was notable for special appearances by several international cricketers from India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. This was done to give the film an authentic look and feel. Despite their presence the film failed to impress the audience.

Prior to its release, the film was also in news for an alleged link-up between its lead pair Harman and Amrita Rao.

Harman's bad luck at Box Office didn't stop with Victory his next release was with ex-girlfriend Priyanka Chopra in Ashutosh Gowariker's What's Your Rashee?. The film was based on a hit Gujarati novel Kimball Ravenswood. The director changed the film's ending to give it a fresh look but despite that the film fared poorly.

The film was in news for Priyanka's 12 roles. The actress went on record saying it was her most difficult role till date. She played the 12 zodiac signs in the movie.

After having made his Bollywood debut with the super successful Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Imran Khan's next Luck was a flop. The film boasted of an impressive star cast with the likes of Mithun Chakraborthy, Danny Denzongapa and Sanjay Dutt.

It launched another star kid Shruti Haasan, the talented daughter of the very versatile Kamal Haasan.

Akshay Kumar's bad luck continued at the box office when his next release 8 X 10 Tasveer also flopped. The film was a thriller and opened to just 30-40 per cent start at major multiplexes across the country.

Acid Factory was a thriller directed by Suparn Verma and was projected as one of the most awaited movies of 2009 but the film failed to cast any impression at the Box Office. Upon release, the film got mixed reviews. Taran Adarsh gave it 3 stars. It boasted of a cast like Irrfan Khan (of Slumdog Millionaire and The Namesake fame) and veteran actor Danny Denzongapa to name a few. Former Miss India Dia Mirza, who was popular as the girl-next-door even got a hot makeover in this film.

Yash Raj Films' Dil Bole Hadippa starring Shahid Kapur and Rani Mukherjee was a major disappointment. Despite the film's heavy promotion, it got a weak opening. The movie didn't do well at the Box Office and it managed to bring in just Rs 16 crore.

It was the comeback film for Rani Mukherjee. After having been written off by critics for being overweight, she was back with a bang with a well toned body. This Bong beauty flaunted her curves in a bikini top for a song with Shahid in the movie.

It was a year of comebacks, as Govinda returned to the silver screen after a hiatus of two years with two comedies but failed to cast any impression. First came Do Knot Disturb, though the film got a reasonable opening but it failed miserably. The storyline was loosely based on the 2006 french movie The Valet.

The film saw the reunion of hit troika of Govinda, Sushmita Sen and David Dhwan, who were last seen in the film Kyunki Main Jhoot Nhai Bolta.

Next Govinda release was Life Partner, it netted Rs 1.75 crore overseas in its opening week while it netted Rs 18 crore domestically by the third week.

Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta starrer underwater thriller Blue was made at a whopping Rs 126 crore and the film was shot extensivley in the Bahamas. The film which was a major Diwali release had the biggest opening, but couldn't maintain the momentum. NDTV's Consulting Editor Anupama Chopra called the movie an 'incredibly dim-witted underwater thriller', criticising the performances. This was the fourth flop by Akshay Kumar.

According to reports, Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue, who flew down to India for the shoot, was paid $1 million for one song. That made Kylie Minogue the most expensive international star to make an appearance in a Hindi film. The song Chiggy Wiggy was a great hit. The film had music by Oscar winning AR Rahman.

Salman Khan, who was riding high after the success of Wanted, was back with his second release of 2009 Main Aurr Mrs Khanna opposite Kareeena Kapoor. The film also had a Diwali release but it failed to impress the audience.

The film was a box office flop collecting only Rs 10.41 crores in its 1st week of release.

One of the major highlights of this film was an item-number by Preity Zinta. The song Happening topped charts for a few weeks.

After a yearlong break, Madhur Bhandarkar was back with a hard hitting drama Jail starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, who had earlier this year delivered a hit New York. Despite receiving positive reviews the film failed to connect and had collections of Rs 6,08,00,000.

The film was in news for a nude scene by Neil Nitin Mukesh. According to reports, Neil's father Nitin Mukesh, a singer, was upset with his son for doing such a scene.

Aftab Shivdasani's production Aao Wish Karein, with Amna Sharif failed to create any magic.

Aladin starring Amitabh Bachchan failed to echant the audience. However, Amitabh Bachchan was praised for his performance in the movie as "genie". Critics felt that Aladin fell due to its screenplay and thus the film was termed as a super flop.

The film saw the reunion of Big B and Sanjay Dutt. According to reports, Big B in one of the scenes had to touch Sanjay Dutt's feet and the veteran actor did the scene with perfection.

Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn came back in Vipul Shah's musical drama London Dreams. It had done reasonably well at the box office,though it's business got largely affected due to more big banner releases in the following week.

The film did receive positive reviews. Taran Adarsh praised the performance of the principal cast, while criticising the climax. Some critics believe this to be Salman Khan's best performance till date and praised his scorching screen presence and showmanship.

It was also in news for an alleged affair between Asin and Salman. It was also the second time that Ajay and Salman were paired together, they were last seen in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

Anil Kapoor production's ShortKut- The Con Is On was slammed by film critics as a poor comedy and a major disappointment. The film had Arshad Warsi, Amrita Rao and Arshad Warsi in lead roles.

Prior to its release, the film was in news for Amrita Rao's bikini act. The actress sported hot pants and short skirts in the movie.

Happy endings are no more the norm in Bollywood, the trend perceptible over the last few years, has become disturbingly familiar in 2009. Year 2009's much anticipated movie Kurbaan starring real life couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor failed to send the cash boxes ringing and its collections nosedived. The latest from Karan Johar's Dharma Productions had a poor 40-50 per cent opening.

According to reports Kurbaan managed a modest 30 per cent opening on its first day and added a mere five per cent to it over the next few days.

The movie had its share of controversies as well. Women wing of the Shiv Sena tore apart the film's posters, which showed Kareena's bare back, saying it was vulgar.

The film was also in news for steamy scenes and a lip lock between Saif and Kareena. Despite all these factors the film was a major disappointment.

Kangna Ranaut, Bobby Deol starrer Vaada Raha was also a dud at the box office.