Nobody pays to watch a bad film. Every single person who loves films wants to have a memorable viewing experience at the cinema hall or from the comfort of their homes. And those who have an inkling of what it takes to make a movie are usually forgiving if they aren’t the target audience of the filmmaker or if they just didn’t vibe with it on that particular day. So, you can imagine how abhorrent a movie needs to be to not just ruin an individual’s trip to the theater but also make them rant about it for days, weeks, and maybe even months. I mean, out of all the movies that I have rated negatively (the number is probably around 130), I have forgotten about most of them. However, the ones that are on this list are so stinky that I have to address their existence and state why they deserve to be labeled as one of the worst movies of the year. There’s a good chance you won’t see some of the propaganda films that were released, and that’s because I didn’t even bother to watch them.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Marvel is truly in its flop era, and the reason is multifold. The movies are bad, yes. The behind-the-scenes treatment of its crew, especially the VFX and CGI artists, is abysmal. That said, this one takes the cake because it has Bill Murray, Evangeline Lilly, and Jonathan Majors in its cast—a real treasure trove of bad actors. And on top of that, it is guilty of unceremoniously booting Emma Fuhrmann, who acted the hell out of her scene in Endgame as Cassie Lang, and replacing her with Kathryn Newton, an actress who can’t act even if her life depends on it.
Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar
If the film was just a compilation of dance numbers, featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, it wouldn’t have been on this list. The reason Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar is on this list is because it ruins the enjoyment factor of those dance numbers with its oddly regressive and misogynistic plot. And the director is a horrible human being.
Bholaa
Bollywood is famous for bad remakes. So, it’s not a surprise that Bholaa is a bad remake of the beloved Tamil film, Kaithi. It’s the fact that Ajay Devgn decided to make one of the character traits of Dilli—his religion—the central focus of the titular character of his film for no other reason than to cater to majoritarian sentiments. And I am glad that it didn’t work out for him and the movie.
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan
The people of Tamil Nadu are still recovering from the stereotypes peddled by Chennai Express, and then Farhad Samji decided that they deserved something worse and made Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. To add insult to injury, Salman Khan inflicted his romance upon Pooja Hegde and his “unique” dance moves on the audience. By the way, it’s truly impressive that Samji remade an egregiously bad movie (Veeram) and still managed to make the original look like a masterpiece. That’s talent, right there.
The Flash
It’s truly wild that, despite all the off-screen (criminal) shenanigans circling around Ezra Miller, Warner Brothers decided to release this movie. FYI, they have canceled multiple projects in the past few months and deleted (or at least dangled the threat of deletion) classic and recent IPs from their streaming platforms to avoid paying royalties. Warner Brothers thought that it was okay to stand beside a film that resurrected dead actors via the most horrendous CGI and VFX my eyes have ever seen. I still want to know what version of The Flash was shown to Tom Cruise and Stephen King that made them go gaga over it.
Adipurush
Everything from its intent to its marketing reeked of pure malice, and the way it was rejected by almost everyone who watched it was really satisfying. The only good thing to come out of Adipurush was probably that photo of Saif torturing Ibrahim and Taimur with a theatrical viewing of this masterpiece.
Tiku Weds Sheru
It’s a Kangana Ranaut production. Need I say more?
Bawaal
Jonathan Glazer made The Zone of Interest, a film about the persecution of the Jewish community by Germany, which is told from the perspective of the Nazis to show how genocide can be normalized. A simple history lesson will show you how that led to the formation of Israel. We all know what Israel is doing to Palestine. Surprisingly enough, Germany decided to stand beside Israel. While India was forming really polarizing opinions about the Israel-Palestine conflict, Nitesh Tiwari drew parallels between the persecution of Jews and the marriage between Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s characters. Let that sink in!
Gadar 2
I hadn’t watched Gadar till the day before the release of Gadar 2. I was aware that the original was a hugely successful film, and by the time I realized the discriminatory reason behind said success, it was too late to back out of the theatrical viewing of the legacy sequel. I have survived a few earthquakes. I have been in several traffic collisions. But I can confidently say that watching Gadar 2 was one of the most traumatizing and painful things I had to endure.
Dream Girl 2
The commercial failure of Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Anek, Doctor G, and An Action Hero probably paved the way for this abomination. While those involved in the making of Dream Girl 2 are partially responsible, since we watched it and celebrated it enough to make it a box-office hit, please don’t be surprised when Raaj Shaandilyaa and Ayushmann Khurrana unite to make something even more cringe-worthy and regressive.
Raktabeej
It was only a matter of time before the seeds of hyper-aggressive nationalism and bigotry started growing in movie industries outside of Bollywood, and well, it’s here. It’s a shame that legends like Victor Banerjee and Anashua Majumdar were involved in the making of this “film.” Also, it has a song called “Gobindo Dat Maje Na,” which is worse than the plot.
Animal
Morally corrupt “artists” made a morally corrupt product, and it was celebrated by morally corrupt people. And those who said that it’s just a movie and that those who appreciated it shouldn’t be judged, please know that, at the time of writing this article, it’s being referenced by the most bigoted sections of the community to incite hatred against minorities. Unless and until you speak up on that, it simply means you are okay with such hate-mongering. Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Pranay Reddy Vanga, Ranbir Kapoor, and several members of the filmmaking community have endorsed its “themes” without a hint of irony or self-awareness, while crying endlessly about the criticism that’s being leveled against this “film.” The only thing worse than Animal is the promise of a sequel to Animal.
The Archies
While I know or can assume the intention behind the making of the films on this list, I am truly clueless about the existence of The Archies. It’s a waste of talent. It’s a waste of resources. It’s a waste of time.
Salaar
Prashant Neel made KGF: Chapter 1, and it was riddled with technical flaws. He rectified most of them in KGF: Chapter 2, and it ended up being one of the best films of 2022. Salaar: Part 1 Ceasefire is not just a mess in terms of the narrative; its visual storytelling is headache-inducing. So, it’s safe to assume that Salaar Part 2—Shouryaanga Parvam—is going to be a masterpiece.
Rabindra Kabya Rahasya
As a Bengali, I couldn’t stand this eyesore of a film that not only tried to spoil Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy but also made a feeble attempt at invoking some form of nationalism. Thankfully, Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy is too rich to be tainted by an incompetent filmmaker, and the topic of nationalism has become oversaturated.
Dishonorable Mentions
Now, it’s time for some “dishonorable” mentions because they aren’t bad enough to make it to the list, but they are bad enough to deserve a shoutout. Chris Evans was in Ghosted and Pain Hustlers, and both of them were painful to sit through. It’s surprising that Kabzaa was released in the same year as Prashanth Neel’s movie came out, but it’s really cool that the blueprint and the KGF rip-off are in the same article. Kuttey is what happens when you allow an amateur with surface-level ideas about communism to helm a multistarrer. Sara Ali Khan was in Gaslight and Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, which is some sort of achievement, I think. Mummies felt racist, to be honest. Movies like Gumraah, Kiss, Kiss!, and Chengiz reeked of insensitivity. Simulant was criminally boring. The editing in The Mother and Bloody Daddy was nauseating. Ravanasura, Pathu Thala, Virupaksha, Boo, and Veera Simha Reddy broke the myth that “the South” (a generalization that the North loves to partake in after watching RRR) only makes good movies. Almost Pyaar DJ Mohabbat proved that Anurag Kashyap has run out of juice. Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury deserves some kind of award for giving us Lost and Kadak Singh in the same year. Ponniyin Selvan II was torturous. Jaane Jaan forgot to have well-lit scenes. Fukrey 3 literally and figuratively urinated on its wholesome and fun legacy. And Disney, in general, should be called out for everything that they put out this year because it was embarrassing in every way imaginable. But that’s just me. Please feel free to share your worst movie-watching experiences of 2023 so that we can feel a little better by sharing our miseries.
