Love Aaj Kal Flops, Trade Analysts Speak

Although  Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal opened well at around  35 percent on Valentine’s Day, theatres  across  India   witnessed a steep drop of  40 percent  on Day 2.

Love Aaj Kal is  most likely to  be added to the  dismaying pile-up of flops this year. While the  last three years have been boom-time at  the  boxoffice, 2020 seems the  year  of wreckage  and  reckoning with only one bona fide  hit, the Ajay Devgan -helmed  Tanhaji so far.

Also Read: Will Imtiaz Ali Regain His Mojo With Love Aaj Kal?

 The flops started  in the  first week of January with  Bhangra Paa Le, Sab Kushal Mangal,ShimlaMirch, Darbar, Chhapaak,  Jai Mummy Di,Street Dancer, Panga, Jawani Jaaneman,Happy Hardy Heer, and  seem  to  continue in February with  Shikara.

Apart  from Tanhaji, the  only film to do well this year so far is Mohit Suri’s Malang.

Also Read: Love Aaj Kal Movie Review: Rebooted Trips Over Its Own Trippiness

As  for Love Aaj Kal,it is almost certainly a  losing proposition, likely to  put  everyone involved in the  red.

Says trade  guru Taran Adarsh, “From what distributors and exhibitors tell me, the audience have found the content confusing. Also, the execution of the written material caters to a very tiny audience, basically the select urban viewer. That coupled with comparisons with the earlier Love Aaj Kal, 2009, went against the film. The poor trending over the weekend proves that word of mouth is negative.”

 Will it affect Kartik and Sara? Says  Taran , “Not much, since they have hits behind them and a strong backup plan for future. Imtiaz, unfortunately, has had major flops, although I feel he is capable of bouncing back again.”

According to trade analyst Atul Mohan it’s the  screenplay that has  let the film down. “Confused writing and  direction is the biggest factor affecting the film. You don’t feel sympathetic towards the characters but feel irritated on their confusions. This film will affect Imtiaz Ali   the most .But his producers have made handsome profits in Love Aaj Kal. The loss will be of distributors. Kartikand Sara are at a stage where one  miss won’t impact them but they should be careful moving from here.”

Adds trade expert Girish Johar, “I guess the content of the film has totally let down the audiences. The film took a very a good start encashing on the Valentine’s Day festivities. It is now the topmost opener  for Kartik. Thereafter onwards it started sliding because  of poor word of mouth and even the critics rated it quite poorly.However, I don’t think it will have any effect on Kartikand Sara’s  careers, as both are huge youth stars having an immense fan-following.Their respective next films are already in the pipeline and they will surely overcome this with passage of time.”