Diwali weekends are usually reserved for the release of the biggest and most-anticipated films in Bollywood. Given that it is the biggest festive weekend for much of the Hindi-speaking population in India and overseas, the biggest stars line up to reserve these dates in advance. More often than not, Diwali releases are successful, too.
But occasionally, a film bombs at the box office despite all the hype, Diwali festivities, and star power. The last time this happened was barely six years ago. ( Also read: Aamir Khan on apologizing for Thugs of Hindostan: ‘I was very sorry, hurt and upset that we went wrong’ ) When India's most expensive film bombed on Diwali Vijay Krishna Acharya's Thugs of Hindostan was the most expensive Indian film made then.
The film was released in November 2018 and had an estimated budget of ₹ 300 crore. Trade pundits had said that the film would need to collect over ₹ 500 crore in India to be a hit. But the combined star power of Aamir Khan , Amitabh Bachchan, and Katrina Kaif seemed enough for that, at least in the makers' minds.
Thugs started well, breaking all collection records on the opening day, minting ₹ 52 crore. From there, the only way was down. Bad reviews and extremely negative word of mouth sank the film as it plummeted to just ₹ 6 crore by day four and less than a crore by the second Monday.
In the end, Thugs of Hindostan only collected ₹ 151 crore nett in India and ₹ 322 crore gross worldwide, a rather disappointing figu.