Exactly a year ago, everyone connected with the Indian film industry, especially from Mumbai, were busy writing obituaries on the Hindi film industry as one film after the other from the dream merchants ended up as box office failures. It had reached its peak during the Independence Day week, when both Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha and Akshay Kumar's Raksha Bandhan proved to be damp squibs. Fast forward to here and now, and how the tide has turned exactly a year on.
The year began with Shah Rukh Khan's actioner Pathaan and that turned out to be the biggest hit ever for Hindi filmdom. Adding to the success list have been quite a few films that turned out to be bona fide hits, bringing smiles on the faces of distributors, exhibitors and multiplex owners. These hits include The Kerala Story, Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor's Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan's Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani's Satyaprem Ki Katha, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt's Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani.
While Ajay Devgn's Bholaa, Salman Khan's Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and the Prabhas-fronted Adipurush did rake in money, success eluded them given their high production budgets and rather insipid content, resulting in the audiences largely giving these films a thumbs down.
But, as they say in popular Hindi film lingo, this was only a trailer of sorts. Unknown to everyone, the complete picture was still taking shape and it did during the second week of August. With the release of Rajnikanth's Jailer along with Sunny Deol's Gadar 2 and Akshay Kumar's OMG 2, the Indian film Industry came up with their shock and awe moment as all the releases took the box office by storm across the country. With still a few big movies yet to release this year, 2023 has easily been the best year post-pandemic as audiences trooped to cinemas—OTT revolution here or not—and the oft-repeated costly ticket theory briefly being shown the door. Many industry insiders see this as the biggest period of revival in the industry post-Covid.
Hindustan Box Office, Zindabad
This column last year delved into how it was time for the Mumbai film industry to step back and introspect in the manner it was churning out flop films with aspects of huge star salaries, the pandemic-induced OTT craze and above all, how makers were giving a short shrift to content in their films. This year did see its share of flops, but the success count was more and the subjects on offer were diverse, attracting audiences in droves.
And they did choose graciously with the much-awaited Shah Rukh Khan actioner creating box office history, followed by a slew of medium-sized films with top stars that kept both the audiences and the production houses happy. The top 10 releases between them have already collected a humongous total of over Rs 2,000 crore (see chart). Adding to these figures for the domestic box office count were Hollywood biggies Mission Impossible–Dead Reckoning, Oppenheimer and Barbie, and Punjabi blockbuster Carry on Jatta 3 that brought in Rs 330 crore (approximately).
Further down south, too, there were a bunch of hits like Ponniyin Selvan–Part 2, Maaveeran, Maamannan, Por Thozhil, Dasara, Pichaikkaran 2, 2018, Vaathi, Baby and Virupaksha, along with the two early Tamil Pongal release hits, Vijay's Varisu and Ajith's Thunivu.
Film Sequels, Franchises Are Here To Stay
The three main releases coinciding with the Independence Day week—Jailer, Gadar 2 and OMG 2—brought in more good news as theatre occupancies shot through the roof and went into an overdrive, breaking several records. Here, it was Jailer and Gadar 2 that proved to be the craze for audiences all over the country, even as OMG 2 put up a spirited fight, caught between the two biggies and earning splendid results for itself (see chart).
Astounding the trade was the combined collection on Independence Day of Rs 140 crore (approximately), if one includes the earlier English and Hindi films that saw steady earnings to the three new releases. The icing on the cake here was the mind-boggling single-day collection by Gadar 2 of Rs 55 crore (approx.) that set an Independence Day record. The two Hindi successes meant that the industry would be holding on dearly to their hit franchises and there were already rumours floating of newer versions of Deol's earlier hits.
Last year, too, sequels with strong recall value have worked like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Drishyam 2, especially when these are well-made. There is already a ready audience for these films based on the original and if the sequel is good, then the film gets a jump-start at the box office with strong word of mouth too. This week's new release another franchise product, Ayushmann Khurrana and Ananya Panday's Dream Girl 2, is also off to a flying start at the box office.
Sunny Days And The Single Screens Are Back Again
In the 90s when film magazines were the only staple for film news, gossip and information, a common question posed in them to Hindi film directors was who among Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Sunny Deol would be the ‘lambi race ka ghoda ' (one who can outlast the rest) in the industry.
While the answers varied, those who sided with Deol can surely now have the last laugh. With Gadar 2, the 65-year-old has broken records left, right and centre, and has earned the title of the only 60-plus actor in Hindi to deliver a Rs 100-crore or even a Rs 400-crore blockbuster. Deol's film is now eyeing Pathaan's domestic total of Rs 534 crore—whether it will have the legs to surpass that remains to be seen.
While Khan's was a solo release and had about two to three open weeks solely to itself, Gadar 2 has managed to collect by competing for the 5,500–6,000 odd screen space with OMG 2 and a packed cinema circuit with long-running releases (see chart). Now, Gadar 2 is into its third week and has comfortably crossed the Rs. 435 crore domestic mark after pocketing Rs 134 crore (approximately) in the second week.
What worked for Gadar 2, apart from the recall value of the earlier 22-year-old first part, was a well-cut trailer that became instantly popular and is still trending at the number one spot on YouTube with over 4 crore views. Credit is also due to its director, Anil Sharma, who went against the current grain of filmmaking—that of catering to niche upmarket films aimed at the multiplex audiences. Sharma relies on the old-school style for crafting Gadar 2—perfected by famous earlier directors like Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra and Nasir Hussain, and comes up trumps given how audiences are loving it.
The major source of revenue for the film has been the single screens in the B and C centres of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, east Punjab, Bihar and central India, and these regions will see almost every record broken as the film is set to continue doing brisk business at least till Shah Rukh Khan's magnum opus, Jawan, releases next month.
Due to huge demand for Gadar 2 during the first week of its release, cinema halls across towns had shows post-midnight and early morning. Inox Raj Imperial in Surat, for example, screened 13 shows of the film between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. The 460-seater single screen, Prem Talkies, in Forbesganj, Bihar, that was on the verge of closing down, is now running the film to packed houses for the tenth consecutive day.
Apart from Jawan, coming up this year are Prabhas' Salaar, Salman Khan's Tiger 3, Ranbir Kapoor's Animal and the Rajkumar Hirani directorial Dunki with Shah Rukh Khan. Till then, fans and the film trade can only wait with bated breath to see how these films fare at the box office and, most importantly, if they can live up to their pre-release hype with content that can match their sky-high expectations.
Anand Mathew is based in New Delhi. He writes on popular culture, entertainment and contemporary issues, is currently working as Director, Communications and Marketing for a private entity.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BQ Prime or its editorial team.
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