Shah Rukh Khan's biggest flop film earned only ₹57 lakh, released incomplete; actor disowned film, refused to promote it

Delayed for a decade, this 2004 release was disowned by Shah Rukh Khan, eventually ending up as one of his lowest grossing films ever.

In 1993, Shah Rukh Khan was only in his second year in films. He had tasted initial success with Deewana and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, but was far from established. Even as Darr and Baazigar pushed him towards stardom, a tentative Shah Rukh signed a number of projects to make sure he had enough opportunities at the box office. Over the next few years, some of these paid dividends. But one ended up being his biggest box office bomb, and that too, a decade later.

Shah Rukh Khan with Kiran Kumar in a still from the film. (IMDb)

In 2004, Shah Rukh was at the peak of his stardom. He had delivered the highest-grossing film each year since 2000, and was riding on a wave of blockbusters such as Mohabbatein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Devdas, Kal Ho Naa Ho, and Main Hoon Naa. Veer-Zaara would further solidify his position as the top star in the country later in the year. But in between all this, Shah Rukh saw the release of two films that were unsuccessful at the box office. The first, Swades, was widely acknowledged as a misunderstood masterpiece later, becoming a cult classic. The other was the much-delayed Ye Lamhe Judaai Ke, a film that had been in production hell since 1994.

Shah Rukh Khan and Raveena Tandon shared screen for the only time in the ill-fated Ye Lamhe Judaai Ke.

Shah Rukh Khan's biggest flop

Shah Rukh and Raveena Tandon had signed the film in 1993, after which director Birendra Nath Tiwari began filming. The film, initially titled Jadoo, finished much of its filming in 1994, but was then stalled. In 2004, the film's makers revived it, casting new actors and reworking the script. Among the new actors was a young Rashami Desai, who would go on to become a big TV star in the years to come. The story lines were merged haphazardly. Both Shah Rukh and Raveena refused to dub for the film or promote it. The hastily completed film was eventually released on 9 April 2004, when it clashed with the sex comedy Masti.

Newcomers Amit Kumar and Rashami Desai were cast as additional leads to finish the film in 2004.

Ye Lamhe Judaai Ke was a monumental failure at the box office, earning just ₹13 lakh on day 1. In contrast, Veer Zaara and Main Hoon Na both earned over ₹2.50 crore on their opening days in the same year. Ye Lamhe Judaai Ke ended its run at just ₹57 lakh in India, somehow managing to cross ₹1 crore worldwide.

Ye Lamhe Judaai Ke on streaming

In the early 2000s, Shah Rukh purchased the digital and cable rights for most of his films from the 90s under Red Chillies Entertainment. Ye Lamhe Judaai Ke was one of them. The film is currently available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. However, it is often described as the one film 'even SRK would like to forget'.