Bollywood fumbles again as ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ and ‘Raksha Bandhan’ collections disappoint

Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan have failed to impress at the box office in their opening week. While the Forrest Gump remake earned Rs 51.08 crore in eight days, the latter has managed only Rs 37.35 crore so far.

Laal Singh Chaddha collected Rs 1.55 crore on day 7, August 17, taking its total collection to Rs 49.23 crore. On the other hand, Raksha Bandhan collections dropped by around 75%. The film grossed a meager Rs. 1.17 crore on Wednesday.

Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh wrote on Twitter, "#LaalSinghChaddha is rejected... #LSC *5-day* total is lower than *Day 1* total of #ThugsOfHindostan [₹ 50.75 cr; #Hindi version], do the math... Thu 11.70 cr [#RakshaBandhan], Fri 7.26 cr, Sat 9 cr, Sun 10 cr, Mon 7.87 cr [#IndependenceDay]. Total: ₹ 45.83 cr. #India biz."

Laal Singh Chaddha, which is Aamir Khan’s first release in over five years, is the official Hindi adaptation of the 1994 Tom Hanks-starrer Forrest Gump, which won 6 Academy Awards. It  is directed by Advait Chandan, and adapted to screen by Atul Kulkarni, who starred with Aamir in Rang De Basanti (2006).

Raksha Bandhan, meanwhile, is Akshay Kumar’s third flop in a row this year, after Bachchhan Paandey and Samrat Prithviraj.