Shahid Kapoor Career Analysis: Beginning of the end?

With his latest release ‘Shaandaar’ biting the dust, Shahid Kapoor is now being called the industry’s most talented under-achiever. Given the fact that he has everything it takes to make it big as a popular Bollywood actor, box office failure has been Shahid’s constant companion throughout his 13 year old career.

Back in 2003, when Shahid made his debut in Ishq Vishq, Hrithik Roshan was going through the worst phase of his career. His much-awaited film ‘Maine Prem Ki Deewani Hoon’ tanked at the box office and ‘Ishq Vishq’ was moderately success. More than the success of ‘Ishq Vishq’, the industry took notice of a young Shahid who had ‘chocolate boy’ looks and also danced like a dream.

Hrithik was written off and Shahid, along with the likes of Vivek Oberoi and a few others, were expected to be the future stars of the industry.

Since then, almost every top banner in the industry has invested on Shahid Kapoor, but the actor, time and again, has promised a lot, but failed to deliver.

Apart from Vivah, none of his films have gone on to be money-spinners at the box office. Even Vivah did not open well, but picked up because of excellent word-of-mouth publicity. The credit for which belongs more to a certain Sooraj R Barjatya, than Shahid.

Jab We Met too relied on word-of-mouth and Kareena walked away with all the accolades. R.. Rajkumar was probably the only Shahid film that took a ‘better than expected’ start at the box office, but even that film, along with Haider, just about managed to break even.

With R.. Rajkumar and Haider performing fairly well, expectations from Shaandaar were high. Marriage, some said, would turn the fortunes around for Shahid. Unfortunately, Shaandaar is likely to go on to be the biggest disappointment of his career so far.

His next two films, Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon, are likely to be off-beat films.

So the big question is, where does Shahid go from here? Is this the beginning of the end or can he turn things around? With top banners like Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions suffering heavy losses from Shahid Kapoor starrers, will other banners / producers invest money on his ‘commercial’ films?

Check out the box office verdicts of Shahid Kapoor films. For an actor who made his debut in 2003, an average of Rs 25 crore per film is dismal to say the least. Hrithik, who made his debut 3 years before Shahid, averages Rs 60 crore per film release. And Ranbir Kapoor, who made his debut 4 years after Shahid, has an average of Rs 63 crore per film.

Movie	Release Date	Collections	Verdict
Ishq Vishk	9 May 2003	7.8	Average
Fida	20 Aug 2004	9.6	Flop
Dil Maange More	31 Dec 2004	5.5	Flop
Deewane Huye Paagal	25 Nov 2005	15.1	Flop
Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!	23 Dec 2005	5.8	Flop
Shikhar	30 Dec 2005	6.7	Flop
36 China Town	5 May 2006	23.1	Semi Hit
Chup Chup Ke	9 Jun 2006	13.8	Average
Vivah	10 Nov 2006	32.8	Blockbuster
Fool N Final	1 Jun 2007	17.8	Flop
Jab We Met	26 Oct 2007	32.5	Hit
Kismat Konnection	18 Jul 2008	23.7	Flop
Kaminey	14 Aug 2009	43.1	Semi Hit
Dil Bole Hadippa	18 Sep 2009	24.2	Flop
Chance Pe Dance	15 Jan 10	9.7	Flop
Paathshaala	16 Apr 2010	11.2	Flop
Badmaash Company	7 May 2010	36	Average
Milenge Milenge	9 Jul 2010	7.1	Flop
Mausam	23 Sep 2011	33	Flop
Teri Meri Kahaani	22 Jun 2012	30	Flop
Phata Poster Nikhla Hero	20 Sep 2013	39	Flop
R Rajkumar	6 Dec 2013	67	Hit
Haider	2 Oct 2014	52	Average
Shaandaar	22 Oct 2015	43	Flop
Udta Punjab	17 Jun 2016	60	Average
Rangoon	24 Feb 2017	21	Disaster
26 Movies	14 Years	670.5 crore	Avg 25.8 cr per film