2018 is set to bring in Rs 3,500 crore. The target should be Rs 4,000 crore for 2019.
Joginder Tuteja
Bollywood never had it any better. 2018 is pretty much turning out to be a year of reckoning for the Hindi film industry. The audiences have clearly shown they would accept anything that is truly exciting and interesting (regardless of the set up being big or small). And totally reject what doesn't seem appealing to them, despite a towering starcast.
This was evident when Aamir Khan's Thugs of Hindostan and Salman Khan's Race 3 were ignored despite their multi-crore set up.
On the other hand, Ayushmann Khurranna's Badhaai Ho, Rajkummar Rao's Stree, Alia Bhatt's Raazi and Kartik Aryan's Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety were embraced whole-heartedly.
It has been a bountiful year indeed as Rs 3,200 crore have already come in from 68 notable releases and at least Rs 300 crore more are expected from the remaining two biggies - Zero and Simmba, before the close of year. That brings the overall haul to a staggering Rs 3,500 crore from just 70 films, a feat that has never been accomplished by Bollywood in history.
If one looks at the moolah that came from the box office in 2017, Rs 3,150 crore had come from 75 notable films.
While talking about notable films, I am discounting those innumerable B, C and D grade films that hit the screens every Friday at 10, 20 or say, 50 screens.
However, the films that get a respectable all-India release are pretty select and these are the ones that bring on the revenue, either big or small, basis merits.
The film that made the biggest impression in 2017 was Baahubali 2 [Hindi] which contributed hugely to the overall revenue that was generated at the box office.
With Rs 511 crore coming in, the film's record stays untouchable. Then there was Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif's Tiger Zinda Hai which entered the Rs 300 crore club, Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty's Golmaal Again that entered the Rs 200 crore club and a series of other Rs 100 crore club entries like Varun Dhwan's Judwaa 2 and Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Shah Rukh Khan's Raees, Akshay Kumar's Toilet - Ek Prem Katha and Jolly LLB 2, Salman Khan's Tubelight and Hrithik Roshan's Kaabil. In total, there were 10 films that went past the Rs 100 crore mark.
Compare this with 2016 when things weren't really as rosy as only eight films entered the Rs 100 crore club. While Aamir Khan's Dangal and Salman Khan's Sultan went past the Rs 300 crore mark, Sushant Singh Rajput's M.S. Dhoni - The Untold Story, Ranbir Kapoor's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgn's Shivaay were the Rs 100 crore club entrants. The man who was pretty much a one man industry was Akshay Kumar who scored a hat-trick of centuries with Airlift, Rustom and Housefull 3.
The man has stayed on to be an industry in himself in 2018 as well. 2.0 [Hindi] is just falling short of the Rs 200 crore mark (at last count it has gone past the Rs 190 crore mark), Gold has scored a century and PadMan surpassed the Rs 80 crore total. With the three films bringing in close to Rs 375 crore already, Akshay Kumar stays on to be the top scorer among all the other superstars who have had releases in 2018.
The star who has seen a rise in fortunes though is Ranbir Kapoor who returned after a few disappointments (albeit with a success in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil intermittently) is Ranbir Kapoor. His collaboration with Rajkumar Hirani paid off big time with Sanju as the film stays on to be 2018's biggest all time blockbuster with Rs 342.53 crore coming in. This is a monumental number indeed and one waits to see if Ranbir himself would be able to surpass this milestone in the near future.
Then of course there was the lethal combo of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone along with Shahid Kapoor who struck huge with Padmaavat scoring Rs 302.15 crore. This, when the film didn't really have an all-India release, was surrounded by controversies and had a (relatively) ordinary start of Rs 19 crore on its first day.
What truly surprised, in a pleasant way though, was the blockbuster success of Baaghi 2. The Tiger Shroff-starrer was backed by Sajid Nadiadwala and Ahmed Khan, who hadn't really delivered a biggie in the past.
Audiences were enthralled big time and they clapped in unison for this masala flick to bring in footfalls worth Rs 166 crore. Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn was his reliable self as his Raid scored Rs 103.07 crore.
This brings me back to the other reliable superstars, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, who disappointed big time in 2018. Good or bad, Salman Khan films had been working ever since the release of Dabangg 2. However, things were not the same when Tubelight struggled to go past the Rs 100 crore mark. It was still considered to be an aberration owing to its offbeat theme. However, Race 3 was expected to be a safe bet. However, the promo itself made one doubtful and after the release, the film folded up at Rs 169 crore.
Thugs of Hindostan couldn't ever cover this distance. It has the embarrassing record of seeing the biggest opening ever [Rs 50.75 crore] and then not even tripling this number for its lifetime. The film's Hindi version has barely scraped past the Rs 145 crore mark and that pretty much shows how audiences were ruthless in rejecting this biggie from Yash Raj Films which also had Katrina Kaif as the added traction.
Clearly, audiences were willing to grab content over style and that reflects in four blockbusters of 2018 - Badhaai Ho, Stree, Raazi and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety.
On a regular day, these films are relegated to being small screen watch. However, films about a middle-aged mother, a confused witch, an Indian spy in Pakistan and bromance were the kind of variety that worked for kids, youth and elderly alike. It is successes like that that were most valued among all as it paves the way for a lot more interesting content that could well be generated in 2019.
After all, even though films like Satyameva Jayate, Veere Di Wedding, PadMan, Sui Dhaaga - Made In India, Dhadak, Andhadhun, Parmanu - The Pokhran Story, Kedarnath and 102 Not Out may not have entered the Rs 100 crore club in 2018 but then they were successful nonetheless. And their scores ranged between Rs 50-Rs 90 crore each.
However, if the trend so far is any indication, there may well be more big scorers in the making with big, mid-size as well as small releases in 2019.
2018 is set to bring in Rs 3,500 crore. The target should be Rs 4,000 crore for 2019.
Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. He loves the word 'Bollywood' and truly believes that it has a ring to it that is sweeter than 'Hollywood'
