2018, a year of reckoning for Khans who failed to deliver at the box office

2018 was the year of reckoning for the Khan trio — not just one, but all three failed to deliver at the box office. Starting with Salman Khan’s Eid release of Race 3, followed by Aamir Khan’s Diwali relase  of Thugs of Hindostan, and finally Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero, which released over the past weekend,  films starring the box office magnets have not impressed critics/audiences. If anything, 2018 has driven the point home that audiences are no longer awed by stars, but impressed only by focussed concepts and well-defined scripts

GAME-CHANGING MOVIES

• The most successful films have been Sanju, Raazi, Badhai Ho, Baaghi 2, Andhadhun, Veere Di Wedding, and Stree, among others
• All but Sanju among these films have been produced on conservative budgets with fringe actors. Five of these films crossed the Rs 1-billion mark
• Films shouldered by women characters in movies like Raazi, Hichki, and Veere Di Wedding made waves not only with the viewers, but also set the cash registers ringing. Raazi is the first movie with a female lead to cross the Rs 1- billion mark
• Budget-wise, the only ‘magnum opus’ to make a dent at the box office was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat
• While Race 3 and Thugs of Hindostan have finished their campaign at the theatres, and failed to break-even, Zero is expected to make not in excess of Rs 1.2-1.3 bn, hence joining the other two in the box office dud.

Sanju, Badhaai Ho and Raazi are among the 2018 releases