There have been several films from big production houses that were released with a lot of hype but failed to meet the expectations of the audience. Some of them have attained cult status a few decades after their release and hence are considered to have been ahead of their time.
- Jhansi ki rani (1953)
This was one of the most ambitious productions of Sohrab Modi, made under the banner of Minerva Movietone. In 1941, Sohrab Modi had struck gold with Sikander, based on the invasion of India by Alexander and his war with Porus. Jhansi ki Rani was made on a bigger canvas and was a Technicolour production. Sohrab Modi’s wife Mehtab was cast as Rani Lakshmibai and he himself played the role of Rajguru. The film was also dubbed in English for an international release (without songs) but bombed at the box-office.
2. Kaagaz ke phool (1959)
This Guru Dutt classic was the first Cinemascope film of Indian cinema. A film about a top director’s broken marriage and an affair with his leading actress, it closely mirrored Dutt’s own life. Despite having made this with high hopes, Kaagaz ke Phool was panned by both the critics and the audience of that time and caused Guru Dutt a loss of Rs 17 lakhs. So strong was the blow to Dutt that he decided not to add his name to the directorial credits thereafter for any of his films. Three decades later, the film began finding a new audience after being showcased in a few film festivals in Europe and a documentary on Guru Dutt by Nasreen Munni Kabir on BBC’s Channel 4. Today, Kaagaz Ke Phool is considered a landmark of Hindi cinema.
3. Son of India (1962)
Mehboob Khan made this following the international success of Mother India (1957), which was also nominated for the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category. Enthusiastic with the success of Mother India and the popularity of Master Sajid, who acted in it, Son of India was launched, in colour. It had Master Sajid playing the lead and was released in 1962 but failed miserably. Today it is only remembered for its songs, like Nanna munna rahi hoon and Dil todne wale.
4. Guide (1964) English Version
Not many know that Guide was made in two languages - Hindi and English. The English version was 120-min long, directed by Tad Danielewski and written by Pearl S Buck. This version was released with a lot of pre-release publicity. The English Guide was closer to the book ‘The Guide’ written by RK Narayan but was a flop when it was released. The Hindi version was made by Vijay Anand and turned out to be a major success.
5. Mera Naam Joker (1970)
This was the most ambitious project of Raj Kapoor after the stupendous success of Sangam (1964). A semi-autobiographical venture, the film originally ran for more than 4 hours, with two intervals. It opened to dismal box office performance, landing Raj Kapoor in a financial crisis, after which he had to mortgage his property, including the famous RK Studios. He made Bobby three years later to tide over this crisis. Mera Naam Joker was later edited in the 1980s and the abridged version has been hailed by both the critics and the viewers over the decades.
6. Shalimar (1978)
Much before the likes of Disney and Sony entered the Indian film market, Shalimar was a collaborative venture. It starred Hollywood actors like Rex Harrison, Sylvia Miles and John Saxon along with Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman and Shammi Kapoor. It was a bilingual release (Hindi and English) but failed in both the versions.
7. Shaan (1980)
A multi-starrer, made by Ramesh Sippy right after the success of a blockbuster beyond measure like Sholay. It is said that Sholay was still running in some theatres when Shaan was released and was removed to accommodate the new release. But it failed to match the expectations of the viewers and failed upon release.
8. Razia Sultan (1983)
Written and directed by Kamal Amrohi, Razia Sultan was made a decade after the success of his Pakeezah. Starring Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Parveen Babi and Sohrab Modi, it was backed by immense hype in print media and was touted to be the next big period film of Hindi cinema, perhaps along the lines of Mughal-e-azam. Amrohi even went overboard in his quest for perfection. For a banquet scene in the film, 45 lambs, 251 fish, 455 chickens and one and a half tonnes of biryani were prepared to give the actors a real stimulation of royal food (Source: India Today). Several scenes were cut after after a fortune was spent on shooting them. Upon its release, the film was a complete disappointment at the box office, mainly due to its uneven screenplay, patchy performances and esoteric dialogues.
9. Ajooba (1991)
It starred an Amitabh Bachchan who was desperate to get back to his days of glory in films after a bad show in politics. It was directed by Shashi Kapoor and co-directed by the Soviet filmmaker Gennadi Vasilyev. Made at a budget of Rs 8 crores, this movie based on an Arabian folktale bombed at the box office. Shashi Kapoor never made a film again.
10. Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993)
Planned after the runaway success of Mr India, this Boney Kapoor production had a similar look and even starred Anil Kapoor and Sridevi. Initially, the film was supposed to be directed by Shekar Kapoor, who had also directed Mr India but after several project delays, he was later replaced with Satish Kaushik! It lacked the combined magic of Salim Javed as it was a solo work of Javed Akhtar. With hardly a strong script to back it and production costs spiralling out of control due to delays, this film not only was one of the biggest disasters of that decade, it landed Boney Kapoor in a major financial crisis.
Edit 1: I had referred to the Sohrab Modi production as Pukar erroneously instead of Sikandar. It was pointed out later. Pukar was another costume drama by Sohrab Modi set in the Mughal era which came out even earlier and had been a huge success as well.