New Delhi: Expectations were high from ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ as it marked Aamir Khan’s return to the silver screen after a gap of four years. But the film managed to earn Rs 46 crore in five days of release, despite a festival and long weekend release.
After the dismal performance of the film at the box office, there were reports that distributors have asked the producers for “monetary compensation" due to the losses they suffered. Viacom18 Studios has denied the reports and called it baseless speculations.
“There are no external distributors, it’s being distributed by V18Studios, and no money is lost in the first place. The film is still running in theaters both in India and internationally. This is baseless speculation," Ajit Andhare, CEO of Viacom 18, was quoted as saying by ETimes.
The report also quoted an exhibitor as saying, “Most studios don’t sell their territories, it is always distributed directly. Even if we try asking for the rights, it is too expensive for us. And the reports of distributors asking for money in case of Laal Singh Chaddha is baseless as the producers are only distributors of the film.”
It was also reported that Aamir Khan has not taken any fees for the film and will bear the losses. "In the last ten years, Aamir Khan has not charged a single rupee as his fee, which also includes his latest, 'Laal Singh Chaddha'. So if there is even a loss, it only falls on Aamir's shoulders without affecting any of the other partners. However, all the production cost was borne by both studio and production house. 'Laal Singh Chaddha' will break even via all non-theatrical earnings itself. Also, one can only discuss the profit and loss of the project at a later stage as it is still running in theatres currently," a source was quoted as saying by ETimes.
Directed by Advait Chandan, ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ is written by Atul Kulkarni and is an official adaptation of Robert Zemeckis’ six Academy Awards winner 'Forrest Gump' starring Tom Hanks.