New Delhi: However, there are no comparisons between ‘Shamitabh', a flick for niche segment and ‘Lingaa' a mass entertainer but it has to be mentioned that the legendary superstars- Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth have failed to impress their fans in their recent films.
‘Shamitabh' also starring Akshara Haasan and Dhanush, son-in-law of Rajinikanth just managed to fetch Rs 13.25 cr in its opening weekend, which was ever lesser than his last year's political-satire ‘Bhoothnath' (Rs 18.02 cr). Such lower collection from such a big superstar's flick wasn't expected despite good reviews from all over.
For one to criticize it's enough that the movie wasn't entertaining and yes, we agree up to an extent since it was for a niche audience, the numbers are obviously much lesser in comparison to the masses. But R.Balki and Big B together have been targeting this section of audience that had yielded them good returns as well as big awards.
Big B's last box office hit came in the form of Satyagrah, which collected Rs 108 cr nett in India despite getting negative reviews however; more of the credit for its success was given to its multi-starrer quotient that included Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Manoj Bajpai.
Leaving that aside, his other few flicks in the past like Bbuddha Hoga Tera Baap, Department among others have been dud at box office as well on the word of mouth.
On that note we are compelled to compare Big B's fading effect at box office with that of his good friend Rajinikanth, the superstar down South cinema. His last release ‘Lingaa's condition at box office isn't hidden from any one, which is a matter of serious concern for the actor. Despite the movie hit a ton at box office collecting Rs 120 cr in one week it couldn't fill the loss, which the distributors suffered post few days of its release.
This was one of the rare losses Rajinikanth had to suffer for his flicks. Last time it was his 1995 ‘Baashha', which didn't perform well at box office and Rajinikanth returned the part of his money to distributors for that.
However, this is not the case for Big B but both these stars have gained immense respect. Having said that, it's also a fact that viewers don't compromise on their entertainment now, no matter who the actors are. They won't acknowledge any damn stuff that doesn't hit the right chord. Big B has been giving some good movies with logics but the mass appeal he had in his earlier days can't do wonders for him right now. And that is visible is his recent work chart.
