This film was credited as Rishi Kapoor’s worst film despite the fact that it features a star kid and a Miss World in lead roles. Read further to know about the box office disaster.
In the world of Bollywood, where star power usually ensures a box-office hit, there are occasional instances where even the top stars fail to save a film. One such unexpected example was Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999), a film that saw two of the top stars of the industry, Rishi Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai, share the screen along with a star kid. Expectations were high, but the result left audiences and even critics disappointed.
The film was directed by Kapoor after working as an actor for several years. Kapoor was a well-known name in Bollywood, having starred in several blockbusters since his breakthrough role in Bobby in the 1970s. Of course, there were high expectations about his move from actor to director. But, despite all the bright colours and promising talent, the film failed to win over the audiences.
Sharing screen space with Aishwarya Rai, who was a top heroine at the time, the film was touted to be a box office bomb. However, neither her star status nor her good looks could help save the film. Alongside her, Akshaye Khanna played the lead role, his performance was criticised for having too much drama and not much depth, with people terming it a case of ‘overacting’.
The film faltered on many counts. The plot failed to impress, the music did not impress and the emotional complexity was below expectations despite having two stars on the cover. Strangely, Aa Ab Laut Chalen was labelled a major flop due to its promise.
To add insult to injury, this was Rishi Kapoor’s only and first attempt as a director. The experience left him so disheartened that he never tried directing again. Critics as well as audiences felt that the failure was not due to lack of talent but due to the gap between people’s expectations and what they got.
Today, Aa Ab Laut Chalen is an example of how even films backed by star names and Bollywood bigwigs can go wrong. It is also the only wrong step in Rishi Kapoor’s otherwise golden career, a rare failure in an otherwise impressive journey of Indian cinema.
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