One of the biggest USP of Baaghi 2 was the pairing of Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani in the movie. Rumoured to be a real-life couple, this is the first time Tiger and Disha are seen together on the big screen, after appearing in a music video for T-Series. Disha Patani has replaced Shraddha Kapoor, the heroine of the first movie, for the sequel. Going by the responses from the trailers, Baaghi 2 was expected to be a roaring success at the box office and looked to be the big ticket entry for Disha Patani.

Sadly, only one thing out of the two is going to happen, and it is not Disha who has luck in favour on her side. But before we talk about how she performed in the movie, let's talk about what happened before Baaghi 2 arrived.

Prologue

Before Baaghi 2 came into existence, Disha Patani was supposed to make her debut in a Karan Johar production opposite Pulkit Samrat that was later shelved. She finally made her debut in Neeraj Pandey's MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, opposite Sushant Singh Rajput. She played Dhoni's first girlfriend, who got killed in an accident. Though it was a small role, it did get her noticed. She was also one of the leading ladies in Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Yoga. Unfortunately, the movie's middling reviews failed to build inroads into international markets for her.

However, more than her movies, it was her rumoured liaisons with Tiger Shroff that kept Disha in the news. Though both the celebs insist that they are nothing more than good friends, the frequent spotting clicked by paparazzi and their vacation pictures gave a different picture to their fans. Then Baaghi 2 happened and things instead of changing for better, changed for worse!

The first cracks

The hints were there when the first trailer of Baaghi 2 came out. While it never failed to show Tiger Shroff in all its glory, it failed to give space to Disha Patani. When compared to the trailer of the first Baaghi, Disha was given a raw deal here. Remember how the makers were quite vocal about Shraddha Kapoor doing action in Baaghi and the trailers even making a huge deal out of it? Sadly, there was no such deal for Disha here.

The promotions fiasco

Then came the rumours, that Disha was not quite happy about how the makers were going overboard in promoting Tiger and making her feel left out. Going by their recent pictures, it also felt that Disha is taking her anger out on Tiger, and the actor seems to be keeping his distance from her. Disha had even called Tiger her 'Bhai' in a reality show!

A source who has worked on Baaghi 2, had this to reveal to us earlier, "It's not a publicity stunt that the two are maintaining 'we are just good friends' stance. All is not exactly well between Tiger and Disha and the message is there for everyone to see. Read their faces and you will get it. While Disha is possessive about Tiger or not, as earlier reported in the media, is quite personal for them to think about and possibly resolve, but Tiger is surely maintaining his distance from someone who he used to praise a lot."

The movie

Baaghi 2 finally came out, and it made all our aspersions (and possibly, Disha's too) came true. While the movie was made to be a project purely to rely on Tiger Shroff's action persona and his ever-growing fanbase, Disha Patani was given quite a raw deal. Neither is her character written strongly nor her performance has any meat. (SPOILER ALERT) In fact, her character is killed mid-way in the movie, to give complete focus to her male co-star to go full Rambo. The only scene where Disha could manage to shine was in the Mundiyaan track where she showed she is no less a dancer than Tiger. That's it.

The reviews also have been not kind to her, with one critic even comparing her to that of Yami Gautam - being yet another pretty face with no performance worth mentioning.

The future

After delivering two duds back to back in Munna Michael and A Flying Jatt, Baaghi 2 is being referred as a back-in-form project for Tiger Shroff. But even before Baaghi 2 came out in theatres, Tiger Shroff already has three plum projects in hand. There is Student of the Year 2 where he is working with Dharma Productions for the first time. In 2019, we will also see him work with his idol Hrithik Roshan for the first time in a YRF project. And then there is Rambo remake that is directed by Siddharth Anand.

However, there is not a single Bollywood movie announced with Disha Patani in the lead, and that's worrying. Baaghi 2 producers have announced the third part in the franchise, but like most of Bollywood sequels, it only retains the lead male star (and the director) leaving Disha in the cold. Just like Shraddha before her...

Baaghi 2 could be a hit, but like MS Dhoni, its success is not helping Disha Patani in the long run. And that's really sad!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2018 08:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).