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Made for 70 crore, earned 2 crore: 2025's biggest box office bomb had a superstar, yet was taken off screens in 6 days

The biggest flop of 2025 saw 97% losses, and despite the presence of a superstar, was taken off theatres in less than a week.

Updated on: Dec 31, 2025, 12:06:31 IST
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A look back at the box office receipts of 2025 shows us the success of Dhurandhar, Kantara Chapter 1, Saiyaara, Chhaava, and Lokah Chapter One - films that defied expectations and rewrote record books. Yet, on the other end of the spectrum, over 80% of Indian film releases in 2025 flopped. Many failed so badly that several unwanted records were broken. The biggest box office bomb of the year registered a loss of 97% and was taken off theatres in less than a week. And all this, despite the presence of a superstar on the back of his biggest hit.

2025’s biggest box office bomb

Mohanlal in a still from the ill-fated Vrusshabha.
Mohanlal in a still from the ill-fated Vrusshabha.

Vrusshabha, the Malayalam epic drama, released in theatres this Christmas. Starring Mohanlal in the lead, the film was said to be among the most ambitious projects ever in the history of Malayalam cinema. Mohanlal featured in the film on the back of the stupendous success of L2: Empuraan, which ended its run as the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever. Naturally, the expectations were high. Yet, the result was disastrous. Vrusshabha earned just 60 lakh domestically on day 1 and almost drew a blank internationally. Its earnings dipped significantly on day 2, and did not recover even as the weekend arrived. By the end of its 6th day, it had earned 1.5 crore in India and just $30K overseas. This gave it a worldwide gross of a mere 2 crore, a striking 97% less than its reported budget of 70 crore.

Written and directed by Nanda Kishore, Vrusshabha stars Mohanlal in a dual role, spanning two timelines, where he portrays a medieval king and a modern-day businessman. The film also stars Samarjit Lankesh, Nayan Sarika, Ragini Dwivedi, Ajay, and Neha Saxena. Vrusshabha released on December 25 in Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur

Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.

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