No money lost: Makers of Laal Singh Chaddha deny reports on distributors seeking relief for losses

Viacom18, the studio that produced Aamir Khan’s latest release Laal Singh Chaddha, has denied reports of external shareholders demanding compensation after the film could not fare well at the box office.

The film made approximately Rs 46 crore in the first five days of its release. It was made at a budget of Rs 180 crore.

Viacom18 Studios Chief Operating Officer Ajit Andhare, as per a report by The Times of India, called the rumours “baseless” and said that there were “no external distributors”, as the studio is itself distributing the film. “No money is lost in the first place,” he added.

The same report quoted a source as saying that Aamir has not charged an upfront fee for Laal Singh Chaddha. The actor normally relies on backend revenue, since his films, at least before 2018, performed exceptionally well at the box office. A similar remuneration strategy was implemented by Tom Cruise on Top Gun: Maverick, which resulted with him earning a reported $100 million thanks to the film’s record-breaking performance. According to the TOI source, Laal Singh Chaddha will probably break even, once ancillary revenue is taken into account.

The film has earned about Rs 39 crore overseas. It will have to rely on a China release to stand any chance of success. Aamir is still an exceptionally popular star there, after the record-breaking success of Secret Superstar and Dangal.

Laal Singh Chaddha, directed by Advait Chandan and written by Atul Kulkarni, also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh and Naga Chaitanya. The film had been receiving calls for boycott on social media because of Aamir’s comments in 2015, where he stated that then wife Kiran Rao thinks of leaving the country because of rising intolerance.