Every year, Bollywood releases many films, often with big budgets and high expectations. But even movies with popular stars and good stories sometimes fail at the box office. One clear example is The Lady Killer (2023), which had a lot of promise but fell flat.
Starring Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, the film was made on a budget of approximately Rs 45 crore. Despite the hype surrounding the actors and the storyline, the film earned barely Rs 1 lakh at the box office a disastrous opening by any standard.
The film quietly made its digital debut with very little publicity.
Box office performance
The film earned just Rs 38,000 on its opening day, selling only 293 tickets across the country, making it one of the biggest box office flops in Indian cinema history.
The film was reportedly released incomplete because of budget overruns, heavy rains in Uttarakhand, and no reshoots. The team relied on editing cuts and voiceovers to finish it. It was originally planned to release on Netflix, but that was canceled, and the film was instead made available for free on T-Series’ YouTube channel.
Why was the film incomplete?
Director Ajay Bahl admitted in a YouTube comment that the film was incomplete, explaining that 30 pages of the 117-page screenplay were never shot. “To confirm, yes the movie is incomplete. 30 pages of the 117 page screenplay were never shot. A huge number of connecting scenes, Arjun and Bhumi’s entire romance, Bhumi’s dependence on alcohol, Ajrun’s sense of being trapped and losing everything and having to run from town, his sense of total despair, all these psychological beats are missing. So yes, it’s no surprise that the film feels choppy and disjointed and one finds it hard to connect with the characters.”
Bahl clarified that the challenges were not due to the actors, praising both Arjun and Bhumi for their dedication: “NOW, about the rumours floating out here, as director, it was extremely painful to shoot The Ladykiller, but absolutely not because of the actors. Arjun and Bhumi were sheer joy to work with. They gave their heart and soul to the film. The problem lied elsewhere but that is another story,” he had added.
Also Read: Arjun Kapoor-Bhumi Pednekar’s Box Office Disaster ‘The Lady Killer’ Silently Drops On YouTube
