India Biggest Flop Movie: The Lady Killer, Ajay Bahl’s ill-fated 2023 crime thriller, now holds the unfortunate title of India’s biggest box office disaster. Starring Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, the film was produced by Bhushan Kumar under the T-Series banner, with production beginning in 2022. Numerous re-shoots in 2023 reportedly inflated the budget to ₹45 crore. Despite the investment, the film struggled upon release, selling only 293 tickets nationwide on its opening day and concluding its theatrical run below one 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.
Due to the film’s ill-fated release, stars Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar refrained from promoting The Lady Killer, with no campaign beyond a trailer launch. When the film hit theaters, its poor performance at the box office drew heavy criticism, leading Netflix to reportedly withdraw its streaming release. Ultimately, in September 2024, The Lady Killer was made available for free on YouTube, where it has since garnered 2.4 million views in just over a month. However, viewer feedback has been largely negative.
Watch The Lady Killer – India Biggest Flop Movie trailer here:
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