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Salim Khan explains why Jab Harry Met Sejal and Tubelight flopped

Big budget films like Tubelight and Jab Harry Met Sejal bombed at the box office. Screenwriter Salim Khan talks about the possible reasons behind it.

Updated on: Aug 29, 2017, 20:12:22 IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
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The dismal performance of two big films, Tubelight and Jab Harry Met Sejal, at the box office was a huge setback for Bollywood which is struggling for major blockbusters for some time. Now, Salman Khan’s father and screenwriter Salim Khan has come up with some reasons that could have led to the poor performances of these films.

Jab Harry Met Sejal and Tubelight were big box office failures.
Jab Harry Met Sejal and Tubelight were big box office failures.

In an interview with Scroll, Salim Khan said, “Tubelight was a good film, which would have done well if any other actor had starred in it, but to have an action hero like Salman getting constantly beaten up and crying all the time just didn’t work with the audience. Someone like Raj Kapoor could do any role, the common man, the lover, the comedian, but Salman doesn’t have that sort of an image.”

He also talked about the flawed business strategy of producers. The film was sold at a whopping price in anticipation of Rs 250 crore business which didn’t happen. If it was sold at a lower price, Tubelight could have made profits. This point makes sense because Tubelight earned more than Rs 100 crore despite negative reviews.

Salim Khan also blamed bad writing as the reason behind the flop show of Jab Harry Met Sejal. He said, “The reason for this is simply that we have been making bad films. And the cause is that we just don’t have writers of any calibre and that is because people have forgotten how to read.”

Akshay Kumar’s Toilet Ek Prem Katha came as a breeze of relief for Bollywood. The film collected more than Rs 120 crore which is a great return on investment for its Rs 24 crore budget.