When Ranbir Kapoor Revealed How Box Office Verdicts Of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani & Rocket Singh Shocked Him

Ranbir Kapoor didn’t have quite an exciting start to his Bollywood career. His first film, a Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial, Saawariya (2007), was a critical and commercial failure. His next YRF release, Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), also didn’t work out well for him.

His commercial success as an actor finally came from Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahaani in 2009, a movie Ranbir thought would be an epic disaster. The slapstick comedy from Rajkumar Santoshi became the fourth biggest hit of the year.

However, His third release in 2009, YRF’s Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, tanked at the box office. Ranbir initially thought the movie was a Munna Bhai-type movie for his career. But destiny had other plans,

The results of these two movies left Ranbir Kapoor astounded. Speaking at the AIB India YouTube channel once, Ranbir said that he thought Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani would be a disaster, while Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year would be a huge success.

“Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year was my third release, and I thought I had a Munna Bhai, like I was going to kill it. That year, in August, Wake Up Sid was released, October was Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, and December was Rocket Singh. I thought Wake Up Sid was going to change the Indian cinema, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani was going to be a disaster, and my career was going to be screwed, but Rocket Singh was going to come and like change it for me like I thought it would be a Munna Bhai for me,” Ranbir said.

“And, exact opposite things happened. Wake Up Sid did decently well, AJPK was a huge hit, and Rocket Singh, people just didn’t go to theatres to watch. I just feel that people were fed up with watching me in August and October, and they didn’t go to theatres. I meet people who say that they loved Rocket Singh, and I am like where the f*ck were these people when the movie was released,” the Animal star added.

Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani went on to gross Rs 97.73 crore against the budget of Rs 44 crore. On the other hand, Rocket Singh collected merely Rs 33.65 against the cost of Rs 16 crore. That’s how it turned out to be for Ranbir Kapoor.

However, his stocks only went up in Bollywood after that with successful ventures like Raajneeti (2010), Rockstar (2011), Barfi (2013), and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013). He had a dry period between late 2013-2018. During this time he had a string of flops like Besharam (2013), Roy (2015), Bombay Velvet (2015), and Jagga Jasoos (2017).

However, he bounced back with Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju (2018). Today, Ranbir Kapoor is one of the highest-paid Bollywood actors in the industry. His last movie, Animal, has become the biggest hit of his entire film career, grossing over Rs 900 crore worldwide.

Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.

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