Why did Mithun Chakraborty do the 200 odd flop movies that he did particularly during the 90s?

 For stability and secure the future of his family

Mithun Chakraborty’s career dwindled after 1989. Apart from Trinetra, Cheetah, Dalaal, Jallad, Ravan Raj which were successes and a few average grossers he gave many dozen flops in between. Action heroes were being replaced by romantic and family heroes. And action disco dance craze faded out. So economically, Mithun made this decision to shift to Ooty where he established his Monarchy Hotel after securing a loan of 10 crores from the government.

He had earlier bought land from his producer friend in Ooty when he was shooting there in late 80’s.

To pay back the loan he created a new model- Ooty Film Factory. He asked film producers to come to Ooty to shoot his films. The whole cast and crew stayed at Monarch, shot in the nearby locations, with almost the same stories, same pattern of 4 songs, 5 fights, one item number, 3 comedy scenes etc. These films were made at almost no time shooting 3–4 films at the same time to save costs. Almost all these films had new unknown actress which saved costs and date hassles and at the same time ensured that the actresses were desperate for work and were ready to do b**d scenes in these movies. Actresses like Sapna, Mink Brar were common in these films and at times actresses like Ayesha Jhulka, Madhu, Rambha etc also joined the bandwagon. These films were made at a cheap cost, sold at reasonable rates and even though most of them didn't fare well in the Bombay and Delhi circuit they did well enough in the interiors to recover their money. Some of these films were actually good like Jallad, Ravan Raj etc but most of them including the great Gunda and Loha were pure cringe.

This model worked well for Mithun and tk some extent for Dharmendra and Jackie Shroff, but after 1998 it reached its saturation point. Between 1998–99 Mithun had 30 releases many a times 2–3 films released in a single day. After this the B grade industry went into decline and Mithun had to take semi retirement in the early 2000’s signalling and end to Ooty Film Factory.

Do even good movies flop?

Of course, good movies with good subject, acting and music also fail.

Swades : This good hindi movie (2004) is directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar.

It has good acting by Shahrukh Khan ; Gayatri Joshi ; Makrand Deshpande ; Rajesh Vivek.

Story : It is based on a real story of a NRI scientist couple ,who relocated to India.

Aravinda Pillalamarri and Ravi Kuchimanchi are credited with inventing pedal power generator.

Naturally, Swades deals with a good subject about educated NRIs and real India.

Realism : This good movie touches on the helplessness of good human beings.

Swades also narrates saga of simple hearted real hinterland.

Flop : But, it is considered a major flop by film trade analysts.

Film journalists claim , it lacks ingredients of a proverbial “commercial movie”.

Fact : Over the years, it is considered as a classic by major film schools.

Pic Credits : Google Images / Web

What are the some flop films of Aamir Khan?

 The List of Failures of Aamir Khan (not including his films as child actor and his one second appearance in Zabardast where he was an assistant director and could be seen in the crowd in one scene).

Holi (1984)- Made as a student diploma film of Ketan Mehta, the film stars actors from theatre group and FTII. The film barely received a theatrical release but won a National award for best cinematography. Very interestingly, Aamir has been credited as Aamir Hussain and not Aamir Khan in this film. Worth watching film.

Raakh- Critically Acclaimed and 3 National Awards winning film but commercial failure.

Love Love Love- Major flop. Highly anticipated because of the return of Juhi Aamir pair after QSQT but the film failed badly

Tum Mere Ho- Did average business but panned by critics and audience alike and considered one of the worst films of Aamir

Awwal Number - Only film of Aamir with Devanand - big flop.

Isi ka Naam Zindagi- First film of Aamir and Farha naaz. Major failure.

Afsana Pyar Ka- Aamir Khan and Neelam together. Film had some good music like Tip Tip Tip tip barish shuru ho gayi. Film was mediocre though and failed.

Deewana Mujhsa Nahi- Again highly anticipated because of the return of Aamir Madhuri pair after the blockbuster success of Dil. But the film failed to take even a good opening and failed. One song of the film is very popular- “Main Sehra bandh kar aaunga mera waada hai”.

Daulat Ki Jung- adventure drama with Aamir and Juhi. Again a flop

Parampara - Arguably the worst film directed by Yash Chopra and his last film directed outside his banner. Aamir felt cheated about his role which was one of the reasons why he left Yash Chopra’s Darr. Debut film of Saif Ali Khan. Big disappointment.

Jawani Zindabad - another film of Aamir and Farha Naaz- big flop. Based on dowry practice but not very engaging

Andaz Apna Apna- Cult classic- One of the finest comedies of all time but an unfortunate commerical flop because of bad promotions and distribution.

Baazi- Aamir’s first film with Ashutosh Gowarikar as a director. Underperformed at the box office.

Akele Ham Akele Tum- Remake of Oscar winning film Kramer vs Kramer. The only flop of Aamir Mansoor Khan pair after films like QSQT and JJWS. Terrific music and very well acted but still unfortunately underperformed. Worse the film lost the clash with SRK’s Ram Jaane.

Aatank hi Aatank- One among the many rehash of Godfather- First film of Aamir with Rajnikanth and last film of Rajnikanth for about 30 years with an A certificate. Interestingly, Rajnikanth worked again with Aamir in Coolie in 2025 again with an A certificate.

Mann- Terrific music (although all the songs of the film are plagiarised) and return of Aamir Khan with Inder Kumar after the success of Dil and Ishq. But the film was disliked even by Aamir Khan and couldn't recover it's high cost.

1947 Earth- India's entry to Oscars and Aamir Khan's foray into arthouse cinema. Part of Deepak Mehta’s Element Trilogy (after Fire and before Water). But commerically failed.

Mela- Aamir's return with Dharmesh Darshan after the All Time Blockbuster Raja Hindustani. Highly anticipated film. Also the only film to co star Aamir with his brother Faisal Khan. One of the worst film of Aamir Khan and despite a big opening the film failed.

Mangal Pandey- Aamir's comeback after a 4 year hiatus. Mangal Pandey was a big budget historical film which was criticised for its historical inaccuracies and despite taking a record opening and earning a very good 27 crores it failed because of its very high budget.

Dhobhi Ghat - Aamir Khan again in an art film setup, directed by his then wife Kiran Rao. Dhobhi Ghat was critically acclaimed and did below average business. Not purely Aanit Khan’s movie as Pratik Babbar had the lead role.

Thugs of Hindustan- After dominating the box office between 2006–2016, finally Aamir Khan delivered a massive failure with Thugs of Hindustan. After the blockbuster success of Dhoom 3, director Vijay Krishna Acharya and Aamir Khan collaborated on this Pirates of the Caribbean themed film also starring Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina and Fatima Sana. Despite having a record opening of 52 crores the film received highly negative reviews and ended up losing a fortune for YRF.

Laal Singh Chaddha - Another major misfire from Aamir Khan. Remake of Forrest Gump, Aamir Khan overacted like anything in this film and was the single biggest reason for the failure of the film. The failure of this film put him in depression and apart from a small film Sitaare Zameen Par he hasn't worked on a project as an actor as of yet.

What are some flop movies in Bollywood but performances were super hits?

 Khamoshi - The Musical :

Khamoshi truly shows what Sanjay Leela Bhansali is capable of and that is extracting performances from actors and having a great sense of music. He dared to cast Nana Patekar as a deaf and dumb character. An actor who is known for firing dialogues.

Besides this Khamoshi has one of the purest performance by Salman Khan as the bridge between sound and silence. A musical masterpiece which failed miserably at the box-office, later gained a cult status has mindblowing performances by Nana Patekar, Salman Khan, Manisha Koirala, Seema Biswas and great music by Jatin-Lalit.

Silsila : Silsila can be termed as poetry on celluliod. It has a very special casting and the treatment given by Yash Chopra is truly appreciable.

Every character is given equal importance. Amitabh, Jaya Bachchan and Rekha were able to keep their personal issues aside and do justice with the role.

Yash Chopra was a visionary director and Silsila was ahead of its time. Therefore the movie gained a cult status later.

Dil Se: What more you can ask for? Brilliant performances by Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, bubbly Preity Zinta, Malaika dancing on

the top of a train, cinematography by Santosh Sivan, music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar and all this under the direction of Mani Ratnam. Set in the background of insurgency in Assam, Dil Se is a complete package.

It has all the shades of love like passion, aggression, compassion, attraction, obsession etc. People term it as a flop due to its unusual ending but made with a budget of 11 Crores, it collected some 26 Crores at the box-office. 60 Lakhs units of the album's soundtrack were sold at that time. 2 National and 6 Film Fare Awards.

The film is remembered for remarkable performances by the cast, great music and technical excellence. Really a Masterpiece.

Jaagte Raho:

Raj Kapoor did not direct Jaagte Raho but he delivered a memorable performance onscreen. A humble villager comes to city in search for a better life, enters a building to quench his thirst, is assumed to be a thief and gets trapped in the web of middle - class greed and corruption.

Released in 1956, you can still relate with the movie even after more than seven decades. In today's fast world you might find the film a bit lengthy but it is a must watch.

The silence of Raj Kapoor throughout the movie and his outburst in the pre - climax depicts the deep message that he wants to give. Finally Nargis in a cameo quenching his thirst of wisdom. Unfortunately it was a commercial failure in India but in 1965 in Soviet Union (USSR) it earned around 4.44 Crores due to the popularity of Raj Kapoor.

One more example of a visionary concept with good performance yet box-office failure.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google