Aditya Seal opens up on Khel Khel Mein’s box office failure: ‘Clash with Stree 2 wasn’t the best decision’

Aditya Seal’s last theatrical release was Khel Khel Mein, which also featured Akshay Kumar, Taapsee Pannu, Ammy Virk, Vaani Kapoor, Pragya Jaiswal, and Fardeen Khan in the leading roles. The comedy film released on August 15 coinciding with the Independence Day, and clashed at the box office with Vedaa and Stree 2. Both Khel Khel Mein and Vedaa got severely affected by the Stree 2 tsunami. However, since its release on Netflix this month, audiences on social media have shared their regret of not watching the comedy in the theatres.

In a freewheeling conversation with DNA, Aditya shared that releasing Khel Khel Mein alongside Stree 2 wasn’t the best decision. Talking about his film’s box office failure, he said, “I think the history is speaking for itself. I felt that number-wise we could have done far better than we did. The clout of Stree 2 became a lot bigger than anybody would have anticipated. We expected the film to open bigger. We had a five-day weekend. I thought that there’s no release for the next one month so we would get our due, but now looking back, maybe it wasn’t the best decision.”

Aditya also shared the experience of working in an ensemble cast. “When we six met first time for the table reading, Ammy wasn’t there, he was in Punjab, I was acting normal and cool with everybody. But sitting with such big names like Akshay Kumar, Taapsee Pannu, and Fardeen Khan, a volcano was erupting inside me. When that table read ended, I literally started enjoying myself. We had so much fun in that process, and the same fun continued on the sets as well. We didn’t even realised when we finished the entire shooting while enjoying ourselves”, he stated.

Aditya Seal was last seen in the queer romantic drama opposite Sunny Singh in Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani, that premiered on JioCinema earlier this month. For his next film Mere Husband Ki Biwi, he is once again collaborating with Khel Khel Mein director Mudassar Aziz. The comedy also stars Bhumi Pednekar, Rakul Preet Singh, and Arjun Kapoor.

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