Five of the biggest box-office failures in 2015: When stars failed to impress

New Delhi: The year 2015 is entering its last week. With the entire globe gearing up for the New Year, our Bollywood celebs are also set to welcome a new phase in their lives. But before that happens, some of our favourite B-town members need to introspect the year that went by - perhaps, ponder over the movies they chose to do and achieved nothing but poor box-office collections.

While this year has been extremely rewarding for the film industry, with new records being set and earlier ones being smashed, it also had its fair share of bad days at the box office.

As the year draws to a close, we bring to you a list of five films which bombed at the box-office. What's surprising is that these movies were backed by an impressive star cast, influential production houses and well-planned promotional events; but failed to impress the audience.

Humari Adhuri Kahani:

HAK had the perfect ingredients for a blockbuster – three talented actors viz., Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi and Rajkummar Rao; a successful director Mohit Suri; soulful music by Jeet Ganguly and Mithoon and the maverick Mahesh Bhatt as the story writer. Despite all this, the movie was slammed by critics for unimpressive direction and poor acting. The story of a married woman's (Vidya) affair with a business tycoon (Emraan) was lost amid over-the-top dialogues and sloppy direction. Though, the movie which released on June 12 raked in Rs 37.57 crore at the box office, it was declared a flop.

Shamitabh:

The director-actor duo of R Balki and megastar Amitabh Bachchan had given the world ‘Paa' in the year 2009. So, it wasn't really unrealistic to expect that their next outing would be equally amazing. Unfortunately, that did not happen with Shamitabh. The movie, which also starred Dhanush, managed to earn only Rs 22.45 crore at the box-office. Released on February 6, the movie was slammed by critics and labelled a flop. “The promising film comes undone by the curse of the second half,” renowned film critic Rajeev Masand had said.

Bombay Velvet:

Anurag Kashyap's most ambitious project starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar failed miserably at the box-office. Set in the 1960's, the film which released on May 15, was based on the book ‘Mumbai Fables' by Gyan Prakash. Despite promoting the movie heavily across all platforms, it opened to dull occupancy (ranging 10%–20%) on its first day. Though the performances by the stars were appreciated by some, the incoherent script orchestrated doom for the movie. The film managed to earn only Rs 23.67 crore at the box-office.

Also Read: SRK's ‘Dilwale' to enter 100 crore club soon, earnings in six days excellent

Katti Batti:

After delivering a stellar performance in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Kangana Ranaut was expected to maintain the momentum with her September 18 release Katti Batti. The Nikhil Advani directorial which had Imran Khan opposite Kangana was labelled a film with a confused plot. Before the movie's release, Kangana made it to the news almost daily for her controversial statements, but that too could not attract viewers to the theatres. The film saw fewer footfalls and earned only Rs 26.50 crore.

Shaandaar:

Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt came together for the first time in Shaandaar. Produced by Karan Johar and helmed by Vikas Bahl of ‘Queen' fame, the film was promoted as India's first destination movie. The stars of the movie left no stone unturned while promoting it. Be it Twitter, Instagram, award functions or reality shows; Shahid and Alia were everywhere. But in the absence of a proper story, the movie which released on October 22, bombed at the box-office and earned just Rs 42 crore.