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Raj Kundra scandal responsible for 'Hungama 2' being flop show?
Insiders think Raj Kundra's scandal led to poor reception of wife Shilpa's comeback movie 'Hungama 2'

Raj Kundra scandal responsible for 'Hungama 2' being flop show?

Jul 31, 2021
06:45 pm

What's the story

Shilpa Shetty recently returned to the silver screen after over 13 years with Hungama 2. Sadly for her, the movie received a disastrous response, and her husband Raj Kundra's arrest in a pornographic racket just days before didn't really help with the publicity. Reportedly, sources close to makers are more or less pinning the blame of the Priyadarshan directorial's poor show on Kundra's scandal.

Details

Disney+ Hotstar didn't take online boycott campaigns seriously, says source

Quoting anonymous sources, a Bollywood Hungama report said, "It (the scandal) did affect the film's performance. There was a campaign on social media to boycott the film. Disney+ Hotstar didn't take it seriously. Or maybe they just ignored it in the hope that the film won't get affected." To recall, producer Ratan Jain earlier claimed the case won't affect the film in any way.

Information

Shetty was trolled for promoting 'Hungama 2' amid husband's arrest

After the movie's release on July 23, Shetty promoted it on social media. Her post highlighted the team's hard work, stating how "the film shouldn't suffer." But her post was flooded with negative comments. Hungama 2 also stars Paresh Rawal, Meezaan Jafri, and Pranitha Subhash.

Domino effect

Shetty's next 'Nikamma' has been indefinitely postponed

As per the estimates of the insiders, the comedy film is said to have lost at least 15% viewership on streamer Disney+ Hotstar due to the porn film case and Kundra's involvement in it. Looking at how Hungama 2 fared, apparently the team behind Shetty's next, Nikamma, has also taken some tough calls. Even though the film is complete, makers have indefinitely postponed it.

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But is the scandal solely responsible for the flop show?

"The producers, Sony Pictures, were waiting to see how Hungama 2 was received. Now that the verdict is clear, the release of Nikamma has been postponed indefinitely," reported Bollywood Hungama. However, are these claims substantial? Many movies have faced online backlash before their release but reigned on the Box Office later. But without any substance in the film, that's hard to pull off.

Update

Kundra was denied bail recently, he's currently in judicial custody

In our review, we wrote, "Hungama 2 has nothing good to offer and can be skipped." It was filled with "cringe comedy, dad jokes, stereotyping, and awful song remakes." Then again, reports of Kundra's alleged connection to the abusive and exploitatory racket amounted to bad press. Meanwhile, Kundra was denied bail on July 28 after being sent to 14-day judicial custody until August 10.