Released in 2019, this film earned Rs 451 crore at box-office, is still called a flop, has a superstar in lead role, the film budget was Rs…

This was the first Indian film to be made with IMAX technology, yet flopped miserably in three languages.

It’s important to recognise that a film’s success isn’t always determined by its budget or box office earnings. Often, films can flop despite having a massive budget and strong collections. Today, we’ll discuss one such film that defied expectations. Released five years ago in 2019, this mega-budget production earned Rs 451 crore at the box office, yet was still deemed a failure. The filmmakers even spent Rs 70 crore on a single scene, but that wasn’t enough to save it from disaster.

Saaho, directed by Sujeeth, was the film in question. The action thriller starred Prabhas alongside Shraddha Kapoor, Chunky Pandey, Jackie Shroff, Arun Vijay, and Neil Nitin Mukesh. Made on a budget of Rs 350 crore, Saho was one of the most expensive Indian films at that point. It is said that Rs 70 crore was spent on an 8-minute scene, which is the biggest expenditure till date any film has done on a single scene.

As per the trade reports, Prabhas starrer earned Rs 270 crore worldwide, resulting in the loss of Rs 52 crore distributors. Well, Saaho was hit in Hindi, but failed in Tamil and Malayalam languages. Even in Telugu, the flip flopped miserably. After taking a massive Rs 60 crore opening, the film delivered disappointing ending of Rs 153 crore.

Saaho was a mega budget action thriller film. The production had used IMAX cameras and was the first Indian film to be made with IMAX technology. Moreover, 100 stunt performers were called for the action sequence. As per reports, Prabhas was paid Rs 100 crore for the film, which accounted for 30% of the budget. All this and post-production took Saaho’s budget to Rs 350 crore, which was one of the reasons that it was called a flop despite earning Rs 451 crore.