For close to half a decade,audiences,the consumer world as well as media has been fed with this statement on a frequent basis. If one looks at it on the face value,they truly are. After all there is no other family belonging to the world of glamour in the entire world,that has got the head of affairs being a living legend,a son being an actor who has been around for a full decade and has at least five bona fide hits under his belt and a daughter-in-law for a beauty queen who has established her clout and proved her mettle as an actor for a decade. Bring them all together and the package is bound to create a frenzy amongst those who wish to churn this brand to the fullest. The Bachchan trio's endorsements,appearances,shows and other public events keep them all in news for weeks at stretch. But even as the brand commands high rates and respect together,the individual performances of the trio seems to have dulled in shine over the last five years delivering,in box office terms,several duds. The Bachchan state of affairs require a quick look. Over the last five years,the Bachchans have been an integral part of at least one big box office debacle practically every year. Though their work was noticed in several of these films,they were not able to pull their weight at the Box office. Of course no actor is without his or her share of flops,even disasters. The biggest and the smallest actors in a film industry in any part of the world would vouch for that. However,the aura which has been created around the trio is something that does make one start wondering if all of this is indeed worth it? Are audiences being led to believe (via a smartly put together approach) that the family here belongs to a planet which is out of this world? Or is it just a myth? First and foremost,Raavan has done a huge damage for Bachchans not just as actors,who were waiting for an elusive hit but also individuals. While Abhishek has never received flak belonging to this scale ever before,Aishwarya has still managed to go scot-free. However,ironically it is Amitabh Bachchan who has been caught in the middle of all the fire,courtesy his impulsive emotional outburst,post the debacle of the film. Another release starring a Bachchan,Teen Patti,stays on to be one of the biggest botched up films of the actor's career. The film stays on to be a huge commercial failure of 2010 and also an engagement that even Amitabh Bachchan wouldn't be quite proud of. A year earlier,Aladin was a huge commercial disappointment. Starring Amitabh Bachchan as Genie - The Genius,the film saw quite some flak coming for the Senior Bachchan. Too long in the making,the film was not even given an opportunity to make any choice,let aside being rejected and the result was a box office failure. For Amitabh Bachchan,this was a huge setback since he featured in the film in an author backed role. For son Abhishek too,2009 didn't quite start off well,what with Delhi 6 turning out to be one of the biggest disappointments of the year. Hyped beyond expectations,especially since it had Rakesyh Omprakash Mehra coming behind the camera after Rang De Basanti,Delhi 6 was ridiculed by most and saw a big slump in collections after a good opening. The film's disappointment hurt Bachchans a lot since it was a solo starrer for Abhishek. Prior to Delhi 6,Abhishek Bachchan had a disaster called Drona haunting him. The VFX laden fantasy saga seemed doomed right from the time the promos came on air. Despite the presence of Priyanka Chopra,audience made up their mind to skip Drona,hence giving it a cold shoulder once it arrived. An overall poor product further meant that Drona didn't find any good voice coming it's way. In the same year Amitabh Bachchan too had an unsung The Last Lear,failing to make any impact at the box office. Though his performance was critically acclaimed (by those select few people from media who actually caught only the film during it's festival or press screenings),audience in general was oblivious of the film even arriving at theaters. Zero marketing,poor release and zilch awareness means that The Last Lear proved to be one of the least known films starring a Bachchan. Moreover,few can forget the debacle of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. Senior Bachchan would truly understand what Junior is currently going through for Raavan. After all what is happening now is just an action replay of the 2007 fiasco when Amitabh decided to get into Gabbar's shoes. Result? The tag of biggest disaster of not just the current year but at least the decade being bestowed upon it. The film was a commercial,critical and emotional disaster for everyone involved and is a butt of jokes for many,including Ram Gopal Varma himself,till date. Abhishek had his own disappointment to be worried about,what with his much hyped Jhoom Barabar Jhoom fizzling out no sooner than the moment it hit the screens. Neither was the plot accepted by the audience nor did the narrative find an appreciation,something which resulted in this Yash Raj production turning out to be one of the biggest setbacks of the year. The songs were hit but that couldn't help Jhoom Barabar Jhoom from sinking. Further embarrassment came from the fact that Rajnikanth's Sivaji which released alongside went on to do bumper business even in Mumbai that only rubbed salt on the wound. 2006 was the year that saw Abhishek Bachchan coming together with Aishwarya Rai,well even in real life. While love bloomed on the sets of Umrao Jaan,the final product,though critically appreciated,could not survive the comparisons with the earlier Rekha starrer Umrao Jaan. The film is one red in their Bollywood report card that is difficult to be erased. For Aishwarya Rai,there was double trouble actually,what with her effort in the West,The Mistress of Spices,not working as well. The film was lambasted as a badly made product and faced rejection in the east as well as the west.
