Opinion: Why Aamir Khan's Thugs of Hindostan Failed When SS Rajamouli's Baahubali 2 Turned Out to Be All Time Blockbuster

Arjun Kapoor had recently tweeted this, "Why have we as a generation started enjoying other people’s failures ???" Though he hasn't mentioned any movie name, it is implied that Arjun was talking about Thugs of Hindostan. If that's true, then Arjun joins other celebs like Aditi Rao Hydari, Mini Mathur and Suniel Shetty in wondering why people, especially critics, are harsh on a biggie like Thugs of Hindostan, arguably the biggest film made in Bollywood to date and also the biggest disappointment of the year too. SHOCKING! Thugs of Hindostan is Aamir Khan's Lowest Rated Movie on IMDB, Even Worse Than Tum Mere Ho!

Expectations were riding high for the film for many reasons. It's an Aamir Khan film, backed by one of the biggest studios in the country, Yash Raj Films. The pirate movie was reportedly made on budget of Rs 250 crore and the hype was real good. Which explains why the movie took off to a Rs 50 crore opening on day 1, taking advantage of the Diwali holiday. And then it came all crashing down.

So what happened? Well, the movie neither impressed the critics nor the public and showed depreciating earnings in the days ahead. As per the recent update by trade analyst Taran Adarsh, Thugs of Hindostan has now collected Rs 133.75 crore till now, a disappointment for such a big movie, not even recovering its costs. Aamir Khan's Thugs of Hindostan, Salman Khan's Race 3 - 5 Hyped Movies That Audience Wrote Off Right From The First Trailer.

Who is to be blamed here? Many ardent Aamir Khan fans and some celebs are blaming the negative reviews. They feel that the reviewers saw only the deprecating factors and not the painstaking efforts taken in creating a bygone era and the ship-warfare.

As a critic myself who wasn't very kind to Thugs of Hindostan in my review, I agree with their sentiments. I also acknowledge these efforts by director Vijay Krishna Acharya and the lead stars Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan should be praised. The VFX was decent (though not exactly great) and the action sequences were good. But if technical aspects decide if the film is a masterpiece and deserves a watch, then movies like Ra.One and Transformers series should get five stars. Unfortunately, that's not the case as the movie gets judged by both the critics and the masses by the content and the impact. And in both the cases, TOH disappoints.

Also, if critics' say really matter, then Aamir's own Dhoom 3 would have been a disaster. Which it wasn't; the movie was an all-time blockbuster. Look at Salman Khan's last three releases. Tubelight that came out in Eid 2017 was a disappointment though it earned nearly as much as Thugs of Hindostan. But Salman followed it up with a blockbuster, Tiger Zinda Hai, that may not have got high praises from the critics, but it was a decently made action thriller that was nearly engaging throughout and piggybacked on a hit predecessor. However, Race 3 that came out this year in Eid, got off to a flying start but turned out to deliver an underwhelming box office performance. Reportedly made at Rs 150 crore, the movie earned around Rs 166 crore which gives it a 'hit' tag. But face it, a Salman Khan action entertainer asked for better earnings going by his past record. Not to mention, Race 3 has been accused of inflating the collections just to boost the egoes of the producers involved.

Let me remind here that critics only make up for a tiny percentage of the audience. If people actually went by reviews, then Tumbbad would have been this year's biggest hit!

So what did Thugs of Hindostan and Race 3 did wrong, and a movie made on a bigger scale than these two, Baahubali 2, did right? As the successes of 2018 like Sanju, Padmaavat, Raazi, Stree and Badhaai Ho showed us, the audience may still have a soft corner for stars, but they are looking for good content too.

Baahubali series may run on the hype of being two of the costliest films India has produced. In Bollywood, despite the backing of an eminent producer like Karan Johar, trade analysts were not ready to back the success of the Hindi dubbed version, though in South, SS Rajamouli, the director, was a big name. The first Baahubali movie was a moderate success in the Northern belt, but the second movie turned out to be a record-setter!

A terrific trailer set the ball rolling, creating the much needed hype at the start. Baahubali 2 also had some really good songs, courtesy composer MM Keeravani. When the movie came out, Baahubali 2 got good to excellent reviews. It had its issues, namely an OTT climax and the special effects were inconsistent. However, what sent the tide in favour of Baahubali 2 were the excellent performances of the lead cast, an engaging storyline and a masterful direction by Rajamouli. Even the leading ladies had some powerful parts that matter to the plot (can't really say the same about TOH!) While the story is nothing new, it doesn't feel 'inspired'. That's why Baahubali 2 had the longevity in theatres, and now its Hindi-dubbed version is the highest grossing film in Bollywood.

Watch The Trailer of Baahubali 2 Here -

On the other hand, Thugs of Hindostan falters in the script, the performances and even the music, which led to it falling apart with its target audience. I agree that such films should be encouraged, because we hardly have any big spectacles in Indian cinema. However, you really can't push for the audiences to go for a movie just on the basis of VFX, when all they want is good cinema. Or at least, a film that keeps them engaged throughout. Sadly, TOH couldn't manage to do both.

You also have to remember that in the past few years, Hollywood films are taking big bites out of our box office, especially these big-budget flicks like The Jungle Book, Jurassic World series and Avengers Infinity War. Why, Avengers Infinity War, released earlier this year, broke into the Rs 200 crore club, something Race 3 and in high probability, Thugs of Hindostan, couldn't do. So the audiences are really getting their fill of visual spectacles from the ones coming from the West. What they look into our cinema is good storytelling and great entertainment factors. Brilliant VFX should only be enhancer, not the driving force. And certainly not have a hero in a movie that is clearly inspired from Hollywood film!

While I was writing this piece, another Aamir Khan movie, Dangal, kept coming in my mind. Made on a fraction of the budget of TOH, we all know that it is now the highest grossing Indian movie worldwide. Thus, proving my point of the article. Fingers crossed that Aamir Khan has better luck with his rumoured 7-part Mahabharat series. We are rooting for you!

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 14, 2018 02:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).