Estimated to have been made on a budget of Rs 300 crore Yashraj Films’ multi-starrer Thugs of Hindostan was positioned as the most expensive Hindi film ever. It also got the much sought after Diwali release. Despite being mounted as a magnum opus that brought together two stars for the first time on screen - Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, the film proved to be a washout at the box office.
Biz analyst Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to call it a ‘debacle’.
According to a Bollywood Hungama report, the film directed by directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, only reaped rewards for ‘sub-distributors of YRF Films who distributed the film on commission basis,’ thanks to the Minimum Guarantee deal, that hedged their risks. The losses in turn were reportedly passed on to the exhibitors, who have lost about 50 to 60 per cent of their investments. The portal reports that the losses incurred by them in this case are even higher than those of Tubelight. But Salman Khan compensated the distributors.
Even the producers have ostensibly lost a significant amount and all eyes are now on the China release. “We plan to approach our territory distributors to claim refund because we know that they have made ample monies from this film due to the minimum guarantee contracts. We hope our message reaches out to Aamir Khan and YRF, who will help us get back our money from the territory distributors,” a trade source told the aforementioned portal, after it reached out to exhibitors.
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