First, the opening weekend figures were dim. Now, according to a report in Mid-Day, Salman Khan’s Tubelight has underperformed so badly that the actor, who has also produced the movie, has been compensating distributors for their losses. The report confirmed rumours that had been swirling in Mumbai over the past few days, and quoted Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan. “When a distributor suffers a loss, the producer needs to show some responsibility and share the burden. We, too, have done the same thing,” Khan told the paper. “We met a few of them and are trying to find a middle ground. We will pay back the distributors.”
The budget for Tubelight, the official remake of Little Boy, was allegedly Rs 100 crores. According to the publication, the compensation amount is believed to be pegged at Rs 60 crores.
Directed by Kabir Khan, Tubelight, set against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian War of 1962, was supposed to ape the success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) which had the same director-actor combination. However, Tubelight failed to the collections of Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) and Sultan (2016).
“Sultan released across 4,300 screens and made a whopping Rs 36.54 crore on its opening day,” said a report in India Today. “Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which was Salman’s previous collaboration with Tubelight director Kabir Khan, raked in Rs 27.25 crore on the first day. In comparison, the much-hyped Tubelight seems to have underperformed at the box office on Friday.” The report said Tubelight earned Rs 21.15 crores on its opening day.
The story today, weeks after the opening day, is no different.