Kangana Ranaut was riding high on the success of her reality show Lock Upp. However, the joy was short-lived as her next project, the action thriller Dhaakad, proved to be one of the biggest debacles in Bollywood history. The film reportedly opened to empty theatres and people instead flocked to the other big release, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, starring Karthik Aryan. Dhaakad, which was directed by Rajneesh Ghai was touted to be the first female-oriented action film in Bollywood and the makers had high expectations of it.
However, according to reports in Bollywood Hungama, the film has caused losses to the tune of Rs 78 crore to the makers. The action film was made on a budget of Rs 85 crore but managed an extremely poor Rs 2.58 crore in its lifetime run at the box office, making it one of the biggest disasters in recent times. Following its poor performance at the box office, it had become difficult to sell the digital and satellite rights for the film.
Normally, a film sells its satellite and streaming rights before the theatrical release, but the makers got ambitious in this case, hoping to negotiate a higher deal later if the movie made a lot of money at the box office.
The move has now backfired. The film almost had no takers. However, according to recent reports, Dhaakad’s satellite and digital right are now being sold at a near scrap value. It is estimated that Dhaakad’s satellite and digital revenue together will stand at less than Rs 5 crore, which is extremely low by today’s standards. However, the makers are in no situation to negotiate and will have to accept the low price. It has not yet been revealed which channel and which OTT platform are in talks for the rights to the film.
