Sassy, saucy to well outright sleazy – that's what Bollywood dished out in the first half of the year. But when it failed to set the cash registers ringing it was Salman Khan with his slapstick comedy and sleek action that revved up box office collection.
The Dabangg superstar closely guarded his numero uno position with blockbuster Bodyguard raking in Rs 150 crore, the highest this year. Close on the heels was Ready that crossed Rs 121 crore in box office collections, while Singham with its high octane action came in third with Rs 117 crore collections and Shah Rukh's magnum opus came disappointed expectations but raked in a cool Rs 112 crore. With these four movies crossing the Rs 100 crore mark, multiplexes saw a collection of close to Rs 1700 crore, a modest gain above last year.
“This year has been just marginally better than the previous year in terms of footfalls, occupancy it was just satisfactory if not good or better,” said Rakesh Sharma, manager of Cinemax.
Though some movies made the cut to the billion collection club, most were panned by the critics and by the box office too.
“Whether it's a Ready or a Bodyguard or a Singham, it worked for these movies and they made money. But I don't think I personally liked any of them,” said Mayank Shekhar, a film critic.
While India's dream factory churned out close to 107 movies, less than a tenth raked in the moolah. That will surely not deter those chasing the Bollywood dream in the New Year.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
