The Lady Killer: I watched Arjun Kapoor's flop project on YouTube

In Bollywood, it’s a rare feat for movies to cross the 100 crore INR and 200 crore INR marks. However, what’s even more unusual is a film failing to collect even 1 lac INR. Yet, in 2023, this occurred with “The Lady Killer”, a movie produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-series and starring Arjun Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar. The film didn’t just underperform, it flopped miserably, earning a paltry sum that no one associated with the project would want to acknowledge. A quick Google search revealed that the movie had collected a mere 75,000 INR, a dismal figure that speaks to its lack of success.

Just recently that movie has been added on YouTube in full-fledged form. You don’t see the whole movie being uploaded on platforms all of a sudden everyday. It’s uploaded on the official account of T-series. It has been silently uploaded and therefore has raised even more questions than at the time of its 2023 theater release.

It was 11:00 pm. I had returned from work. I took a bath and had my dinner with me while on my desktop. I was enjoying me-time on YouTube. All of a sudden my eyes came across the video’s dramatic thumbnail. It was Arjun Kapoor. He was the guy from those 2 States and Panipat movies I had liked so much.

I didn’t expect him to appear out all of a sudden on YouTube in an entire movie. It was uploaded by T-series. I watched it. It didn’t take long for me to realize something was wrong and incomplete. Turns out it’s more than that.

I’m giving three reasons why Lady Killer failed. Not just as a movie, but as an entire project taken on by a group of professionals.

1.Half-Hearted Promotion before Release.

You have probably watched Pathan. It is one of the recent SRK movies that crossed the 1000 crore mark. It is worth noting that the movie had its promotions and release started around 4 weeks before officially released in cinemas.

Another movie from South KGF chapter 2 had a very similar gap between its promotions and its official release. The same is true for Brahmastra Part 1.

When movies are to be released, their trailers and promotional activities are started way before the official date. This helps filmmakers attract an audience as it creates a waiting list and fosters the element of suspense. Ample time must be present for conducting marketing activities and creating hype.

Strangely, in the ad for The Lady Killer, its trailer was released just five days before the movie was about to hit the cinema. No interviews were recorded. No marketing stunts, no special cast appearance, no pre-release conference. Nobody knew about the film. I even fail to see a post on Arjun Kapoor’s Instagram!

(He’s about to feature in Singham 2 by the way. I spotted that post)

With this little gap, it’s impossible to pull off the marketing one is needed for a film before its release. There was no buzz and no visibility in the market. No one knew about the film. I wonder why this necessarily didn’t cross the producer’s and the director’s mind.

Another surprising thing was that only 12 shows were booked for the release. Given India’s massive reach and exposure, it is a very odd number.

2.An Incomplete Project

Upon watching The Lady Killer, you may notice some peculiarities. It becomes apparent that the film feels incomplete, with abrupt scene transitions and a lack of depth, leaving the viewer wondering if the story was fully fleshed out. The pacing and plot development seem rushed, which is a notable concern.

Many scenes appear half-hearted as if made just to get the project done rather than investing in it. The blame majorly falls on the director and the producer.

A source said that there were 117 pages written on the original movie script. The movie however was made leaving at least 30 pages. And it’s not that I heard this and then started to contemplate how the film lacks stuff. The feeling was apparent. From the start something was missing and as if has been made in a rush.

There is no intensity in the emotions. There are no inspiring conversations between the characters. Scenes at times become mediocre. The whole story leaves you dissatisfied with what you’ve actually watched.

3. Heavy Criticism

When the film finally got to see the light, those few who went for the first time were deranged. They felt their money was wasted and recommended not to watch the film.

Given the standard of the story, the criticism was obvious. The producer and director both were criticized for the project’s quality and failure. The reasons given were not justifiable. One of them is the weather of the site being unpleasant due to rainfall. Issues like these should be planned beforehand and in no way explain why the movie turned out to be like this.
It was made on a budget of 45 Crorre INR which is not less as compared to movies of this scale and cast. Some critics point to the failure in project management and their co-ordination.

A movie involves more than a dozen departments to make it, to carry it, and to market it. Hence strict and efficient communication is vital along with all the departments being on the same page. This was likely not in the case of The Lady Killer.

It was also supposed to be streamed on Netflix. But that too didn’t make it. For obvious reasons.

The Lady Killer belongs to the thriller genre. It is a trending one. But unfortunately, some inside slip-ups dragged the movie to its failure. They’re saying it’s arguably the biggest flop in modern Bollywood.

As a result of all this, with no OTT platform to buy it, and with no one to write in fact anything positive about it, the movie had to be released on YouTube.

This unwinds some crucial findings. It shows that marketing is an integral part. Promotions at the right time are necessary. It highlights the importance of team coordination, and everyone aligned. It’s not the fault of the actors but the people in higher management. The actors may get new work. Arjun Kapoor is already occupied with the new Singham’s part.

But now that everyone knows about The Lady Killer’s debacle, Bhushan and his colleagues now might find it challenging to clear their name.