South Indian films that bombed big time at the box-office in 2022

The year that ends next week was a game-changing, positive one for the South Indian film industry. While the entire nation was raving about flicks like RRR, KGF:2 and Kantara, 2022 turned out to be a disastrous year for some top heroes in the South. 

Here’s a quick look at some of the biggest duds in South cinema this year.

Telugu

Tollywood’s most expensive disaster: ‘Radhe Shyam’ 

Radhe Shyam is considered to be one of the biggest flops in the Telugu film industry. The Prabhas and Pooja Hegde starrer opened with huge expectations but fell flat after the initial euphoria. Made on a massive budget of ₹350 crores, the film mopped up about ₹150 crores at the box-office. 

Also read: 19 controversies that rocked South Indian film industries in 2022

As per reports, Radhe Shyam is the only film in Telugu film industry to have incurred a loss of over ₹100 crores. It was also reported that Prabhas returned a big chunk of his remuneration to the makers of the film after it tanked.

Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan could not save ‘Acharya’

Tollywood’s mega star Chiranjeevi and his son Ram Charan failed to impress the audience with their film Acharya. The film made on a budget of ₹140 crores was rejected by the audience on the second day of its release and made just ₹76 crores. Chiranjeevi opened up about the debacle at an event recently and said that only good content will draw audiences to the theatres.

‘Liger’s roar turned into a whimper at box-office

Vijay Deverakonda delivered one of his career’s biggest flops with Liger. Directed by Puri Jaganadh, the film was made on a budget of  ₹100 crores. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi and had Ananya Pandey opposite Vijay Deverakonda. The makers promoted the film extensively in Hindi, but Liger turned out to be a dud at the box-office. The film, which had a cameo with boxing champ Mike Tyson, was completely rejected by the audience and critics. As per reports, the film raked in about ₹56.3 crores at the box-office.

Even Salman Khan could not help the ‘Godfather’

2022 was a bad year for mega star Chiranjeevi as he delivered a series of flops. His second release in 2022 was Godfather and even featured Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in a cameo. Chiranjeevi was hoping to taste some success at the box-office but the movie did badly. As per reports, the film collected about  ₹61 crores. The collections in the Hindi belt were extremely poor despite Salman’s cameo.

What’s with ‘Son of India’?

Mohan Babu has acted in over 500 films and his last release Son of India did not even figure in the top 100 films of the year. Mohan Babu tried to experiment with his film, but it backfired heavily. The movie’s budget is said to be ₹12 Crores, but the collection was less than  ₹20 lakhs. The film is said to have been released in 350 theatres but it hardly had any takers. The film was less than two hours long and that was the only saving grace for the audience.

Tamil movies

The ‘Prince’ failed to charm

Sivakarthikeyan had a dream run at the box-office earlier this year with two back-to-back hits with Doctor and Don. However, his third outing in 2022 turned out to be a dud. The movie Prince failed to impress the audience and is said to have incurred a loss of ₹15 crores for the producer.

‘Cobra’ hissed but missed its target

Expectations were riding high on Chiyaan Vikram’s Cobra. Made on a budget of ₹100 crores, the film’s concept was great, but the makers failed to get the execution right. The audience and critics found the film confusing and the movie fell flat right from the start. 

Also read: RRR, KGF-2, Bheeshma Parvam & Ponniyan Selvan: South films rewrite box-office rules

As per reports, the movie recovered about ₹40 crores at the box-office and burnt a deep hole in the producer’s pocket.

‘DSP’ shocked the audience

Vijay Sethupathi’s film DSP shocked the critics and audience with its poor storyline. The cop-drama was a run-of-the-mill story and had nothing new for the audience. The film made on a budget of ₹25 crores failed to draw audiences to the theatres.

‘The Legend’ that never was

Retail magnate Saravanan Arul’s The Legend was one of the most talked about films in Tamil cinema this year, but for all the wrong reasons. Saravanan made his debut as a hero and the science action film was made on a budget of ₹45 crores. The film had some popular faces to support the debut hero, but the movie did not create a buzz at all

Captain failed to impress

Arya’s Captain was said to be a science fiction action film and the first of its kind in Tamil cinema. Since it was a new genre for the Tamil audience, the audience expected something different but the film crashed at the box-office on the opening day. The audience and critics had unanimously rejected the film for its poor storyline, VFX and performance by the actors.

Kannada movies

‘Home Minister’ just did not work

Superstar Upendra’s film Home Minister turned out to be a disaster at the box-office. The Real Star had claimed that he was promoting the film after he had seen the first cut of the movie. Upendra plays a stay-at-home dad in this flick but the audience and critics were unimpressed.

‘Bairagee’ lacked commercial elements

People were looking forward to Century Star Shivaraj Kumar’s Bairagee as it brought together Shivaraj Kumar and Dolly Dhananjaya after their successful film Tagaru. Though the film was made on a decent budget, it lacked the commercial elements the audience expected from a Shivaraj Kumar’s film.

‘Ek Love Ya’ was a dud

Ek Love Ya was the debut film for Raanna and Reshma Nanaiah. The film received a lot of hype around it as Raanna is actor Rakshitha’s younger brother and she had been wanting to launch him for a few years. The movie was directed by none other than her husband Prem. While Raanna was appreciated for his looks and acting ability, the movie failed at the box-office because of an uninspiring storyline.

‘Head Bush’ failed to spin well

Dolly Dhananjay’s Head Bush was one of the most anticipated films of 2022. The movie revolves around the life of a gangster, M P Jayaraj in Bengaluru during the 70’s. The film was released amidst a lot of hype, but the film failed to impress the audience on many levels. According to sources, Dhananjaya, who also produced the film, recovered his investment through various revenues, but the film failed to draw audiences to the theatres.

Ravi Bopanna lost in the 80s

Filmmaker Ravichandran’s return to direction after nearly six years failed to impress the audience. Ravi Bopanna was the remake of the award-winning Malayalam film Joseph, but Ravichandran’s style of making the remake did not go down well with the audience. He was in fact targeted for trying to objectify women like he did with his heroines in the 80s and 90s. A lot of hopes were pinned on this film but it crashed in the opening week of its release.

Malayalam films

Aaraattu failed to bring in the audience

Mohanlal’s first release after the debacle of his big budget film Marakkar was Aaraattu. Made on a decent budget of ₹18 Crore, the film opened to mixed reviews. As per reports, the film managed to collect ₹17 crores at the box-office. The release of Aaraattu had some stiff competition from another Malayalam film which released on the same day. The following weeks saw some big releases from Tamil and Telugu cinema which had an impact on the collections of the Mohanlal starrer.

‘Monster’ had a terrible run at the box-office

Monster starring Mohanlal was another dud at the box office in 2022. The film received a lot of negative reviews from the audience and critics. As per reports, the film collected just ₹5 crores in its first week despite getting a wide release. Some even called it a washout in theatres.

‘Padavettu’ was a misadventure

Nivin Pauly’s film Padavettu was another big film rejected by the audience in the Malayalam film industry. The film received a lot of negative reviews and as per reports, the film managed to earn ₹3 crores at the box-office which is really low.