Filmmakers are known to be a superstitious lot. When crores are riding on the success or failure of one project, some superstitions are bound expected. Several times, makers use numerology for titles; other times, they opt for their favourite ‘letters’. But the significance of a film’s title cannot be overemphasised. Hence, it is surprising that this simple title has given Bollywood three big flops, yet producers keep revisiting it. (Also read: Made in ₹45 crore, earned just ₹60k, India’s biggest box office bomb sold 500 tickets, all OTT platforms rejected it)
Bollywood’s unluckiest film title
The word that has caused Bollywood grief at least nine times, thrice with the same title. The word is an innocuous one – Karz, meaning debt in English. The word has been used as the title of a film three times and has been part of the title on six other occasions. Surprisingly, all nine movies bombed at the box office big time. These include the 1980 release Karz, the 2002 film Karz: The Burden of Truth, and the 2008 remake Karzzzz. The other six box office duds are Karz Tere Khoon Ka (1988), Doodh Ka Karz (1990), Pyar Ka Karz (1990), Karz Chukana Hai (1991), Mahaan Karz (1991), and Doodh Ka Karz (2016).
How Karz affected its makers and stars
The original Karz, directed by Subhash Ghai, starred Rishi Kapoor, Simi Garewal, Neetu Kapoor, and Pran. Despite being a cult classic now, Karz was a box office failure initially, earning under ₹4 crore at the box office. It was affected by Feroz Khan’s Qurbani, which stole its thunder upon release the following week. In his autobiography, Rishi Kapoor admitted that the film’s failure left him depressed and unsure of his career for a long time.
The film’s 2008 remake – Karzzzz – starring Himesh Reshammiya and Urmila Matondkar, fared no better. Made on a budget of ₹24 crore, it managed to earn only ₹16 crore. As per reports, the film’s makers were left on the verge of bankruptcy as a result. For Urmila, this was the nadir of her career. After its release, Urmila never got a full-length role in a Hindi film again. She eventually moved on to judging TV reality shows in 2011.
Sandwiched between these two films was Karz: The Burden of Truth, the 2002 film by Harry Baweja. Starring Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, and Shilpa Shetty, the film made only ₹15 crore at the box office and was heavily panned by critics. Of the other six films that used Karz in their titles, none crossed even ₹5 crore at the box office, making this word the unluckiest for box office in Bollywood. Probably that is why no Hindi film has used it in eight years.