Bollywood’s Aamir Khan may waive his fee after Laal Singh Chaddha’s poor box office showing: reports

Bollywood’s Laal Singh Chaddha was one of the most anticipated films of 2022, however, that anticipation didn’t translate into sales for the Aamir Khan-starrer. After facing legal challenges, Indian media is now reporting that Khan may absorb the film’s tremendous losses and waive his own fee.

On Tuesday, a source told Bollywood Hungama that producers Viacom 18 lost INR 1 billion on the film as it hasn’t managed to rake in INR 600 million at the domestic box office but if Khan decides to waive his fees, the studio’s losses will be reduced. The report also said that the PK actor had worked on the film for four years and will not make any money off it if he doesn’t charge his fee.

An earlier report by the publication suggested that there was a rift between the studio and Khan’s production company after the failure of their Hindi remake of Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump. According to the reports, the promotional activity of the film was not approved by the studio, which led to the rift.

The film also stars Kareena Kapoor, Naga Chaitanya and Mona Singh among others. It was written by Atul Kulkarni and directed by Advait Chandan. Laal Singh Chaddha released the same week as Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan and both films faced challenges at the local box office. In its first week, Khan’s film made INR 480 million, which is less than his box office flop Thugs of Hindostan. Kumar’s film wasn’t far behind as it made similar numbers as Laal Singh Chaddha and failed to impress Indian audiences.

Khan had previously said that he would release the film on OTT platforms six months after its release but the film’s fate at the box office has made the team reconsider their decision. Laal Singh Chaddha will now release on OTT platforms in eight weeks, according to the Indian media. The film has, however, been doing well at the international box office, beating Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi and Anupam Kher’s Kashmir Files to become the highest grossing 2022 Hindi film at the international box office .