Amar Kaushik on reasons behind Bhediya’s poor performance at the box office. (Photo: X/AmarKaushikfc)
Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon’s Bhediya (2022) underperformed at the box office upon its release but received praise after its digital debut.
In a recent interview, the film’s director, revealed the two main reasons behind its poor performance at the box office.
In a podcast with Komal Nahta on the YouTube channel Game Changers, Amar was asked about the stark difference between box office numbers and streaming feedback of Bhediya. He said, “Do cheezein thi jo mujhe baad mai samajh mein aayi, ek toh usi time agayi thi (There were two factors that I realised later). Just like Stree 2 released with two other films, Bhediya also had a clash with Drishyam 2 and it was a good film. It released a week before our film so it had already created buzz. Sab vahi dekhne jaarahe the.”
The director added, “And, I made the film targetting the younger crowd and exams were going on at that time. Students didn’t even know. They got to know after the OTT release and liked it very much.”
Amar Kaushik also shared that he could have made the ending of Bhediya differently. “I made the climax a bit niche, that both of them are animals and not hero-heroine. I had an option to convert, so that he fights as Varun but then people would have gotten to know that he is a shape-shifting Bhediya. It would have been difficult for me to make the sequel if everyone knew that he is a man. It was a learning, you realise these things later.”
During a rapid-fire round towards the end, Amar also stated, “Bhediya performed lesser at the box office than I expected and I wish I would have made it differently.”
Bhediya’s lifetime box office collection was Rs. 66.65 crore in India. For the unversed, Maddock’s horror-comedy universe is expanding as they announced eight upcoming movies, including Bhediya 2 and Stree 3.