Filmmaking in India is a costly business. From production to casting and VFX, the cost of big films in most industries runs into several crores. The bigger the star, the larger the budget. But a bigger star also promises returns on this investment, more often than not. The trouble is that there is no guarantee of that return, as this one film is proof. Made on a budget of ₹45 crore, this film remains India's biggest flop ever, earning a meagre ₹60,000. This 99.99% loss is the biggest in the history of Indian cinema.
The Lady Killer, the ill-fated 2023 film from Ajay Bahl, has the dubious distinction of being India's biggest box office bomb. The film starred Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar and was a crime thriller. Produced by Bhushan Kumar under his T-Series banner, the film began production in 2022. Reports suggested that the film exceeded budget due to several re-shoots in 2023. The final product cost ₹45 crore. However, upon its release, it found no takers, selling just 293 tickets across India on its opening day, ending its lifetime run under a lakh.
Reports claimed that The Lady Killer was released incomplete, with the climax not fully shot. The film's director, Ajay Bahl, initially backed this claim in an interview, only to reverse his statement later. However, the fact remains that The Lady Killer received only a token release in a handful of theatres in India in November 2023. As per trade insiders, the reason was that the makers had signed a deal with OTT giant Netflix for its streaming release in December. For that, the film needed a theatrical release in November first week, failing which the streaming deal would be invalidated. Reports suggest that the makers felt it was better to have a token release and then secure the OTT release. That was why the 'incomplete' film was released without any publicity.
However, due to the farcical nature of the release, the film's stars - Arjun and Bhumi - did not promote the fil. There was no promotional campaign barring a trailer release. As the film was released and did that sorry business at the ticket window, it generated a lot of bad press. As a result, its streaming release was cancelled as Netflix reportedly backed out. Eventually, The Lady Killer was belatedly released for free on YouTube in September 2024. The film has 2.4 million views on YouTube in over a month, but most of the comments are negative.
