Why Did Anek Fail At The Box Office

To be honest, I was excited to watch Anubhav Sinha's Anek with the ultra-talented Ayushmann Khurana in the lead role. It was supposed to be psychological- political- fast paced action thriller. Moreover, it had Andrea Kevichusa, our very own home girl. But sadly, the film didn't do well in the box office. I am sure there will be numerous reasons for its failure. However, to me, these are some of the reasons which might have contributed to the bombing. 

Firstly, the separatist movement of the NE region of India is not a thing which can be told in 2 hours and few minutes, the topic is vast, complicated and complex. The film clubs all the NE states as one, the car's number plate bears the witness. Each and every NE states have different political history and some of the states are now free from the political issues which once plagued the region. It would have been better if they selected one of the states from the NE region and focused on it rather than taking up the entire region. It could have saved the movie from ending up like a superficial-half-baked project, which it sadly did, eventually. 

Secondly, Aido (played by Andrea) who aspired to win gold medal for India in boxing was also the love interest of Joshua (played by Ayushmann) the under covered cop. The story of the movie was already burdened with the insurgent problem and burdening it with another sub plot- sports drama, was too much for the audience to focus on. Unlike KRK, I won't be saying how unsuitable Andrea was in the role of a boxer. She did her best and it's for the casting director to keep the requirements in check, no?

Thirdly, maybe the mainland audience are not well aware/ or not at all aware of the political issues happening in the NE region of India and must have failed to connect to it even on awareness level (forget about emotional or intellectual level). Hence, they might have opted out from giving it a try, when the word of mouth failed miserably like the promotion. 

Anyway, I am glad, Anubhav Sinha, at least made an attempt in directing a movie on a controversial subject which has often been neglected by the mainstream film makers.