Stardust Exclusive: Why is ‘83’ the film such a huge flop?

Why is ‘

the film such a huge flop?

This Kabir Khan directed, Ranveer Singh starrer film had everything, yet it has flopped colossally badly. Sumita Chakraborty analyses why?

Critics, even the hard-nosed ones who quibble about one and one-and-a--half stars, gave it a five-on-five star rating, die-hard fans have been raving about it, researchers claim no Bollywood film has been as well researched as this one… yet this film is supposedly one of Bollywood’s biggest flops in the history of Indian cinema.

Yes, we are talking about the Kabir Singh directed, Ranvir Singh starrer ‘83’, which has earned Ranveer a lot of critical acclaim, yet it is supposedly a box office failure. Why? There are several reasons for it. Of course, the pandemic can be called the main villain for the film’s doom – the third wave being the reason for its flop to a large extent. Due to strict action taken to prevent the virus from spreading, the Maharashtra government restricted the theatres to fifty percent of its capacity which cut off a chunk of the earning, so the earnings at theatres weren’t all that great - supposedly, ‘83’ just earned 98 crores in theatres. But having said that, South film ‘Pushpa’ and ‘Spiderman No Way Home’ have done phenomenally well and are still running to full houses till date. Not to forget, ‘Sooryavanshi; too did very well in theatres when it was released during Diwali. So what went wrong with ‘83’?

Not Promoted Well

A few critics claim that the film has not been promoted well before its release. Yes, they had a huge release in Dubai where Deepika Padukone and Ranvir and many cricketers including Kapil Dev witnessed a phenomenal light installation of the film on iconic monuments. This was definitely fabulous but other than that, things on the promotional side were rather subdued. Perhaps this hit the film hard. In fact, a distributer in Gujarat claim that theatres in the rural belt were empty simply because the viewers from those regions were not even aware that the film had been released.

Budget Woes?

The film was made on a huge budget which crossed supposedly 250 crores. Don’t forget two of the most expensive actors – Ranveer and Deepika Padukone were in it – agreed Deepika was one of the producers but the media was abuzz that she was paid more than Ranveer for this film. And to top it the returns have been rather poor – almost 185 crores covering India and abroad, which also include 60 crores being bought by an OTT platform. Rather poor in terms of what the film should have really reaped, right?

Blame It On Covid?

Director Kabir Khan in an interview said that there was indeed a ‘sense of disappointment’, as his film had become a ‘huge victim’ of the third wave. He said that the day the film released, two states announced night curfews. By day two, six states had cancelled the night shows and by the fourth day, Delhi had shut down the theatres. He acknowledged the adverse effect it had on the film,

and understood the paranoia of the audience as the cases were increasing. Kabir said, “There’s a sense of disappointment that our timing was all wrong.” Producer Ajay Rai whose ‘Tabbar’ did stupendously well, in an interview, too takes up cudgels for the film. He avers. “Whatever its box office performance—and let’s not forget ‘83’ was released when the third wave of the pandemic was around the corner— the film is as brilliant as ‘Lagaan’, the other cricket masterpiece. A film’s quality cannot be judged against its box office performance. Even today we talk about Guru Dutt’s ‘Kagaz Ke Phool’ and Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera Naam Joker’ which were declared flops when released.”

Docu-Drama?

Agreed, however though a lot of diehard cricket fans loved the film yet many millennia’s who perhaps were not even born during India’s phenomenal win, could not even connect to the film. Many felt it was more of a docu drama and the cricket in it went on and on.

Critics, even the hard-nosed ones who quibble about one and one-and-a--half stars, gave it a five-on-five star rating yet this film is supposedly one of Bollywood’s biggest flops in the history of Indian cinema.

There was indeed a ‘sense of disappointment’, as the film had become a ‘huge victim’ of the third wave.” – Kabir Khan

“There are several reasons attributed to a movie’s failure but this time ‘83’s debacle is because of its docudrama genre and timing its release so close to Spiderman and more so ‘Pushpa’. – Suneel Darshan

Producer Suneel Darshan in an interview claims, “There are several reasons attributed to a movie’s failure but this time ‘83’s debacle is because of its docu-drama genre and timing its release so close to Spiderman and more so ‘Pushpa’ which have collectively snatched away Rs 100 crore of boxoffice takings in their second week.”

It Was Pushpa?

Film critic Narendra Gupta who gave it 5 on 5 insisted that after Diwali, the audience was waiting for a big film to come along. But Bunty Aur Babli, Tadap and Antim let them down badly. “Pushpa came before 83, it came at the right time when people were looking forward to a great entertainer. Normally dubbed films from the south don’t do so well out here. But Pushpa was promoted well, the trailer was very good and the film fetched excellent reviews. Still, because dubbed films don’t normally do well, Pushpa had a weak opening of only Rs 2.5 crore. It picked up gradually and then held on despite strong competition from Spider-Man. Pushpa was a full-on, three-hour entertainment package. People even started comparing it to Bahubali. There were a lot of factors that worked in its favour to make it register worldwide collections of Rs 350 crore.” Trade guru Taran Adarsh too claimed when interviewed, “There’s no denying the fact that ‘83’ is an extremely well-made film, but, unfortunately, the praise, the accolades, the critical acclaim and the strong word of mouth hasn’t translated or converted into footfalls.

‘Pushpa’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, released one week before, continued to pose stiff opposition to ‘83’ in mass belt and metros, respectively. The moviegoers felt these two films were better alternatives than ‘83’.” - Taran Adarsh

The film has worked at select metros, that too at premium multiplexes. Outside metros and especially at smaller centres/mass belt, the film has not found acceptance. The expected numbers are missing. One of the reasons could be that people found it to be a docudrama. It appealed more to the big city audience, the mass belt just did not take to it - especially the youth and those who relish masala fares.” He added, “’83’ has it all - it was very well made with strong emotions as its USP. The release period was most appropriate too. Christmas and New Year celebrations are one of the most lucrative periods as far as the movie business is concerned. Unfortunately, ‘83’ did not take off the way it should have. ‘Pushpa’ and ‘Spider-Man: No

Will it go down the annals of History like ‘Swades’ and other cult films that perhaps fared badly at the box-office but are still remembered? We don’t think so!

Way Home’, released one week before, continued to pose stiff opposition to ‘83’ in mass belt and metros, respectively. The moviegoers felt these two films were better alternatives than ‘83’.” Sad but true! Indeed ‘83’ which to be fair to it, is a well-made film that has been researched extremely well. Unfortunately, perhaps the timings didn’t work in favour for the makers. Will it go down the annals of History like ‘Swades’ and other cult films that perhaps fared badly at the boxoffice but are still remembered? We don’t think so! Though a very good movie, it’s more like an autobiography and a docu-drama than an entertaining film so it’s appeal is restricted to mostly die-hard cricket fans and people over the age of 40.