Aamir Khan takes the blame for film's flop

Director Vijay Krishna Acharya (centre) with actors (from far left) Amitabh Bachchan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Katrina Kaif and Aamir Khan at the trailer launch event for Thugs Of Hindostan in Mumbai in September.
Director Vijay Krishna Acharya (centre) with actors (from far left) Amitabh Bachchan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Katrina Kaif and Aamir Khan at the trailer launch event for Thugs Of Hindostan in Mumbai in September. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

MUMBAI • Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan is not blaming others for the box-office failure of his latest film, Thugs Of Hindostan.

"I take full responsibility for Thugs not working with the audience. I think we went wrong, but I would like to take full responsibility for that," he told reporters on Monday at an awards ceremony tied to Cinestaan India's Storytellers Contest.

"Somewhere, we went wrong. There are some people who liked the film and we would like to thank them, but they are in the minority. The majority didn't like it and we realise this," he added.

The movie, which also stars another cinema giant, Amitabh Bachchan, and cost $58 million to make, was released over the recent Diwali holiday period.

It did well on opening day, but soon sank from poor word of mouth and bad reviews.

Latest figures show that it has made only $29 million after 19 days of release.

Khan, 53, whose track record includes box-office hits Dangal (2016) and PK (2014), said he felt "very bad" that he had let his fans down, reported the Times Of India.

"The audience came with so much expectation to watch my film. I want to apologise to them that this time, I couldn't entertain them."

While superstar Shah Rukh Khan had commented that some of the criticism lobbed at Thugs was overboard, Aamir Khan insisted that fans were still entitled to their own opinions.

But he did not want to deflect the blame to others, saying: "I am not comfortable discussing all of this publicly because I am very close to all my films. I treat them like my kids. So, even if they fail, they are mine," he said.

Still, China, where Dangal did well, could recoup lost pride.

"The China release is going to happen next month. So, let's see what happens," Aamir Khan said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 28, 2018, with the headline Aamir Khan takes the blame for film's flop. Subscribe