Bollywood films are multi-million dollar productions, with the most expensive productions costing up to $10 million. More ambitious projects are reportedly planned, the most expensive of which is an epic film Mahabharata, by Ravi Chopra, estimated to cost up to $30 million and will start rolling in 2008. Sets, costumes, special effects, and cinematography were less than world-class up until the mid-to-late 1990s, although with some notable exceptions.
"A film's budget depends on its story and script. If it is a period film, like Mahabharat for instance, the canvas is bound to be huge and the budget will naturally escalate," reasons Aseem Bajaj. "You could shoot a scene in a hotel room for Rs 10,000 or in the dessert for Rs 20,000 or construct a set worth Rs 10 lakh for the same scene," he adds, while emphasising that art direction in any film costs mega bucks. As to what will be special in this kind of movie, Aseem assumes it to be a period film, perhaps based on an epic. "Such a film will also require a big star cast, extras and a lot of special effects," he explains.
Big budgets, big star casts, and big filmmakers ought to make big money with big films. But alas! Bollywoodvillage.com lists out instances in the recent years when expectations of big booms have gone bust at the box office.
 RGV Ki Aag
Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Sushmita Sen, Nisha Kothari, Rajpal Yadav, Sushant Singh, Prashant Raj, Ajay Devgan, Suchitra Krishnamurthy
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Why it failed?
Ram Gopal Varma tried to re-make an absolute classic – Sholay. He was criticized for his habit way before the movie was released. But the problem with the film was that the plot of this one was exactly like that of the original and the performances just didn't match up to that of the yesteryear actors. It was a drag and one couldn't quite sit through this over the top effort. However, having the guts to remake Sholay, and with Amitabh going negative in this one, it was a film that wasn't discounted, and much awaited for.
 Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Star Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Lara Dutta, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol
Director: Shaad Ali
Why it didn't work?
Though the music of the film was simply superb, when the trailers of it were aired on television one thought that this was the film to watch out for. Unfortunately, the film just didn't have the effect it promised. Coming from the Yash Raj stable, and with Shaad Ali's direction – he directed Saathiya and Bunty Aur Babli too, you just couldn't go wrong with this one, was the common man's thinking. But how wrong we were! The plot wasn't too easy for all to understand, and though Lara Dutta shone in this one, the film fell short somewhere and was declared a 'dud' at the box office.
 Ta Ra Rum Pum
Star Cast:Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee
Director: Siddharth Anand
Why it didn't work?
First let us begin by telling you that Ta Ra Rum Pum wasn't as bad a flop as the other films, but it didn't fare too well either. It just failed to match up to the expectations. With the combination of Saif and Rani - who struck gold the last time off in Hum Tum - one would expect history to repeat itself. One doesn't know if the inclusion of kids and those teddies had anything to do with the audience mistaking it to be a kid’s film. Or was it that the F1 fever just hasn't caught up as much as we believe it has. Or was the emotional track in the film a wee bit too emotional?
 Eklavya - The Royal Guard
Star Cast:Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Sharmila Tagore, Boman Irani, Jimmy Shergill, Raima Sen
Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Why it didn't work?
Though Vidhu Vinod Chopra is undoubtedly a great filmmaker, Eklavya failed to make as large an impact as his previous films. Having cast the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan, one would expect the film to be a great story packed with powerhouse performances. But though the feel and cinematography of the movie was simply superb, Eklavya turned out to be quite an ordinary tale. Some didn't get the plot, and many thought VV Chopra was capable of bigger and better things.
 Salaam-E-Ishq
Star Cast:Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, John Abraham, Govinda, Shannon, Akshaye Khanna, Ayesha Takia, Sohail Khan, Isha Koppikar, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Anjana Sukhani
Director: Nikhil Advani
Why it failed?
Expectations were high with this one. After all it was a mega-starrer and not just a multi-starrer. Also, it was Nikhil Adani's next film after Kal Ho Naa Ho, which was a grand success. However, things didn't work out. A convoluted plot probably left the audience confused and impatient. Also, the film was too long and dragged in parts. What a waste of resources and talent, but one can never discount the effort and the guts to attempt something like this.
 Baabul
Star Cast:Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Rani Mukherjee, Salman Khan, John Abraham
Director: Ravi Chopra
Why it failed?
Baaghban was a huge hit. After all it had the amazing casting coup of Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini, and touched the family audience. However, Baabul was no Baaghban. It touched upon a socially relevant issue, that of widow-remarriage - but not even the power of Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee and John Abraham complemented by the handsome couple – Amitabh and Hema – could wow the audiences. It was criticized as quite a drab.
 Umrao Jaan
Star Cast:Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, Divya Dutta, Ayesha Jhulka
Director: JP Dutta
Why it failed?
This film was had a huge budget. But it simply failed to attract the masses. One isn't too sure if it has anything to do with the poor marketing strategy or then it was probably shunned as being just a re-make of a brilliant classic, the original Umrao Jaan, which the current youth and multiplex audience may not have given in to.
 Omkara
Star Cast:Saif Ali Khan, Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Konkona Sen Sharma
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Why it failed?
Omkara wasn't as much a failure. It didn't match expectations. It boasted of powerful actors and a more powerful director in Vishal Bhardwaj, who was still being praised for Maqbool. However, based on the theme of Othello, some criticized the characterization, and didn't bestow upon Vishal the choice of creative liberty, while others didn't fan the plot too much. Though it wasn't a flop, it was definitely one of the most awaited films of the year 2006.
 Mangal Pandey - The Rising
Star Cast:Aamir Khan, Ameesha Patel, Rani Mukherjee
Director: Ketan Mehta
Why it failed?
What can one expect from an Aamir Khan-starrer? It has to be perfect. Sadly, the audiences rated the film far from perfect. Mangal Pandey did average business at the box office. But the critics wrote it off, and Aamir's histrionics didn't deliver as per expectations. Based on the story of Mangal Pandey, India's hero who shot the first bullet against the British, the story wasn't as captivating as it should've been. There was no edge-of-the-seat drama and this one, too, like many others dragged in parts.
 Paheli
Star Cast:Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Sunil Shetty, Anupam Kher, Aditi Govitrikar
Director: Amol Palekar
Why it failed?
Based on a folk story, Paheli failed to impress the audience and was a dud at the box office. Not even Shah Rukh fans wanted to see the ghostly side of him. Though it was India's official entry to the Oscars, Paheli didn't manage to rope in the masses. Blame it on limited publicity? Possible. Or maybe then the storyline was too folky and not appealing at all.
 Kisna
Star Cast:Vivek Oberoi, Ishaa Sharvani, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Antoina Bernath, Sushmita Sen
Director: Subash Ghai
Why it failed?
It was directed by the Showman himself after a long hiatus. He had promised it would be one of a kind. It was, but in the negative sense. Kisna was a never-ending saga, made unnecessarily long. The plot didn't impress the audiences and this mega-budget film was declared a mega-flop at the box office.
 Swades
Star Cast:Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Why it failed?
After Lagaan, one expected similar drama from Ashutosh Gowariker. The simple fact that it was the film post Lagaan, expectations was sky high. Swades, however, was called a documentary-like film by most critics. Though Shahrukh's performance was appreciated, the dull and dreary subject matter didn't appeal to our escapist cinema goers and the work of art was simply written off.
 LOC – Kargil
Star Cast:Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna, Manoj Bajpai, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Sunil Shetty, Rani Mukherjee, Preeti Jhangiani, Mahima Choudhary, Divya Dutta, Priya Gill, Raveena Tandon, Kareena Kapoor, Namrata Shirodkar, Esha Deol, And and Isha Koppikar
Director: JP Dutta
Why it failed?
JP Dutta was known for his patriotic fervor and fabulous execution of patriotic films like Refugee and Border. But LOC, Kargil was way off. The film starred almost all the actors of the film industry and while it was in the making, the movie was quite the talk of the town. However, it just failed miserably in its execution. There was no characterization, and the flick was one convoluted hotchpotch.
 Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon
Star Cast:Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan
Director: Sooraj Barjatya
Why it failed?
Sooraj Barjatya is known for fabulous films like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, which were huge hits at the box office. But something went drastically wrong with Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon. The film had Hrithik overacting, and the plot wasn't too convincing. The film was also silly in parts. The audience just didn't become a deewana of this one.
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