The film which has intrigued Bollywood is Kabir Singh. It has collected around Rs 180 crore in 10 days flat and is now making a dash towards the Rs 200 crore mark.
The first half of the year is through and there are 10 films which have emerged as clean successes. These films range across hits, superhits, and blockbusters, that have collected over Rs 1,450 crore amidst themselves.
There are a couple of double centuries that have been scored so far, the biggest being Uri - The Surgical Strike. The film was made at a cost of less than Rs 50 crore and yet its theatrical business in India stood at a massive Rs 244.20 crore. The Vicky Kaushal-starrer was an underdog, which opened at less than Rs 10 crore and then went on to gain from strength to strength. On the other hand, Salman Khan's Bharat opened at more than Rs 40 crore and did its maximum business in the extended Eid weekend. It has now folded up at around Rs 215 crore.
However, the film which has intrigued Bollywood is Kabir Singh. It has collected around Rs 180 crore in 10 days flat and is now making a dash towards the Rs 200 crore mark. While it would comfortably surpass Uri - The Surgical Strike's lifetime, it has to be seen if there is a Rs 300 crore club calling as well. A blockbuster success.
In fact, Kesari was one film, which was touted to be a Rs 200 crore club film in the offering. Its merits made it a contender for that spot as well. Although it couldn't reach the finish line, yet it managed to go past the Rs 150 crore milestone for sure to emerge as a clean hit. Ditto for Total Dhamaal, a complete family entertainer, which had a similar total as Kesari and has now turned out to be a mega blockbuster success in the satellite arena too.
Gully Boy was an offbeat affair with Ranveer Singh leaving behind the world of Simmba and stepping in as a slum rapper. The Zoya Akhtar-directorial earned as per its merits and brought in Rs 140 crore. On the other hand, merits of De De Pyaar De warranted that it goes past the score of Rs 125 crore at least. However, its taboo theme meant that it just about crossed Rs 100 crore.
There were three more films that did well and deserved an entry into the Rs 100 crore club. However, they just fell short by some distance. Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon-starrer Luka Chuppi was a fun entertainer that had the audiences in splits. But, a number of external factors including competition from Bollywood releases as well as cricket matches curtailed its run to Rs 95 crore. Even Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi deserved better and though the first week was good, the follow-through resulted in total just crossing Rs 92 crores.
A very heartening super success, though, was that of Badla. The film opened at a mere Rs 5.04 crore and then went on to do more than 17 times that business by netting close to Rs 88 crore. The film did more than double the business that one would have expected out of it and emerged as a major superhit.
While the year has started well with 10 successes already out of 30 odd notable releases, one now eagerly waits to see how the second half of the year turns out to be.
Top 10 biggies of 2019
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Uri - The Surgical Strike - Rs 244.20 crore
Bharat - Rs 215 crore
Kabir Singh - Rs 180 crore (and counting)
Kesari - Rs 154.41 crore
Total Dhamaal - Rs 154.23 crore
Gully Boy - Rs 140 crore
De De Pyaar De - Rs 103.50 crore
Luka Chuppi - Rs 95 crore
Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi - Rs 92.19 crore
Badla - Rs 87.99 crore
Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal.India Union Budget 2019: What does Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have up her sleeve? Click here for top and latest Budget news, views and analyses.
