10 Surprising Bollywood Box Office Underperformers Of 2014

The adage "The best way to avoid disappointment is to not expect anything" goes very well with Bollywood. 2014 had a huge lineup of movies from big banners, big stars and celebrated directors, but gradually the movies spurted out more shocks than surprises; further leading to an abysmal performance at Box Office. Not even marketing strategies and promotions could help the movies from drowning at the ticket window.

True to the fact, there were few movies which had a good storyline and were critically appreciated, but failed to pick up good numbers at the Box Office. With the year 2013 having given more number of above average, hits and super-hits, the same was expected to be continued this year as well. However that did not happen and the year turned out to be disappointer for audiences and trade fraternity.

Here we list 10 surprising Bollywood Box Office underperformers of the year 2014.

Dedh Ishqiya (10 January, 2014)

Starring Bollywood's finest actors like Madhuri Dixit, Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Huma Qureshi; Dedh Ishqiya was a successful sequel of 2010 Ishqiya which had Vidya Balan in the lead. Abhishek Chaubey's Dedh Ishqiya garnered rave reviews from film critics, but failed to get impressive numbers at the Box-Office. Combination of good story with good actors failed to collect good numbers and in its third week, the movie almost had lost its screens to Salman Khan's Jai Ho.

Jai Ho (24 January 2014)

The expectations of trade with this Salman Khan flick were sky high, as by then Salman had established himself as a bankable star. Jai Ho turned out to be a shocker on the business front, though the movie collected pretty well in crores, but failed to get in humongous numbers expected by the exhibitors, being a "Salman Khan" movie. It pulled major crowd at the single screens. Also starring Tabu and debutante Daisy Shah, Jai Ho opened up to mixed critical reception.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects (28 February 2014)

Starring Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar in lead roles, Shaadi Ke Side Effects was a sequel of 2006 film Pyaar Ke Side Effects, which had Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose. Shaadi Ke Side Effects received positive reviews and was a fun film according to the viewers, but the movie saw a dropping business after an average start at the Box-Office, reasoning it to have released during the cricket week. In spite of having powerhouse performers like Vidya and Farhan, the movie failed at Box-Office.

Gulaab Gang (7 March 2014)

It created hype with the announcement of its unimaginable star cast, the two dazzling divas of Bollywood, Juhi Chawla and Madhuri Dixit, shared the screen for the first time ever. However, one of the much awaited movies, Gulaab Gang turned out to be a disappointer for its poor screenplay not justified the immense talent of the two leading ladies. The critics raved about Juhi Chawla's performance; to the whole movie was a flop at the Box-Office.

Bhoothnath Returns (11 April 2014)

Nikesh Tiwari's Bhoothnath Returns, sequel to 2008 film Bhootnath opened to positive reviews by the critics and picked up business with the positive word of mouth. The movie was marked as a must watch for kids' starring Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani and Parth Bhalerao(child actor) the movie was a perfect joy ride for kids and was appreciated for its portrayal of a hard hitting subject like corruption in a subtle way giving out a message film. Bhootnath Returns fared beyond its expectations at the Box-Office, but the way it was received the movie deserved to be making more numbers.

Humshakals (20 June 2014)

What could be a bigger sarcasm for any movie then to have said to have overlapped Sajid Khan's Himmatwala? Well, the director himself reclaimed it once again by giving us the disastrous movie of the year "Humshakals" with an expectation of getting entertained, those who booked their tickets in advance regretted of doing so and the movie received as low as 0.5 stars by the critics. Termed to be a family entertainer, it turned out to be a torture for the viewers and the trade as well. The movie managed to get in numbers almost recovering its making cost that recovered from three days, mostly due to advance booking. Hence, there was nothing good about the movie that a single person had to put in words, so much so that the star cast of the movie (Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu, Tamannaah Bhatia, Esha Gupta and Ram Kapoor) even regretted being a part of it. Hence, it was a contaminated product wrapped in a glossy paper, resulting into Box- Office underperformer.

Bobby Jasoos (4 July 2014)

Vidya Balan's performance was appreciated; a decent story line and a genuine effort could not make it big at the Box-Office. Known for going all out for promotions the actress did put in her best to promote the film, but managed to get limited audience. Hence, Bobby Jasoos made an average business at the Box- Office.

Kill Dil ( 14 November 2014)

And how can one not have expectations from a Yash Raj banner. In spite of having strong actors like Ranveer Singh, Govinda, Parineeti Chopra and Ali Zaffar, Kill Dil fell flat and turned out to be disappointing for audiences and obviously for the exhibitors. The trailer, the songs, Govinda in specific and overall presentation looked too good to flop at Box-Office.

Entertainment (8 August 2014)

Starring Akshay Kumar and Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead, the movie opened to positive to mixed reviews. The movie was loved by children and Aksahy Kumar's performance was appreciated. Sadly, it could not make it big at the Box-Office may be because it is mostly the children and their parents made for the audience.

Happy Ending (21 November 2014)

Happy Ending, did not see anything happy happening to the film. Not only the critics, but also the audiences slammed the movie. The big ensemble star cast comprising Saif Ali Khan, Govinda, Ileana D'Cruz, Kalki Koechlin and Preity Zinta could not pull off the movie at par excellence.Having had created quiet a decent pre release buzz, the movie turned out to be a failure at Box- Office.