As six months draw to a close with one more release — Ayushmann Khurrana’s Article 15 — which performed well during its first weekend with collections of Rs 20 crore, Bollywood has presented a mix of films — some fared well and some had to struggle at the box office. Looking at the box office numbers, it definitely has been a decent year so far. And among the ones that contributed to the BO growth include Uri: The Surgical Strike starring Vicky Kaushal, Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon-starrer Luka Chuppi, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif’s Bharat, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt’s Gully Boy, Taapsee Pannu and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Badla and the recently released, Kabir Singh that has given Shahid Kapoor his career’s biggest opening. Kabir Singh, also featuring Kiara Advani, is ruling the box office at present with collections of Rs 181 crore in just 10 days of its release.

Summing up the first six months, trade analyst Atul Mohan says, “They’ve been very good compared to last year. In the first quarter, we made Rs 1150 crore but the second quarter was a bit dull with Rs 640 crore so far. But overall, the business of both the quarters combined has been very promising.”

Kabir Singh is nearing the Rs 200 crore mark at the domestic box office.

IN FOR A SURPRISE

The year started on a high note with Vicky Kaushal’s war drama Uri doing an unexpected and exceptional business and then Vivek Agnihotri’s political thriller, The Tashkent Files turned out to be the biggest sleeper hit of this year.

“There was no support when the film first release and despite that, what we see today is overwhelming. The film that has been running for 75 days in theatres, has begun an entire discussion on Shastri ji (Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri). Word of mouth has really helped,” says Agnihotri.

Hailing both the films, exhibitor Akshaye Rathi says, “Nobody would’ve thought the films can run for 70 plus days at cinema halls. Even Uri was not expected to go beyond Rs 50 crore and it went and did a Rs 200 crore plus business.”

SCRIPT IS THE HERO

The box office results have also shown that a genuine script and good acting can take the film ahead by leaps and bounds. Badla director Sujoy Ghosh says, “I don’t want to know what made my film a success.. For me every film should be a challenge to make a successful film.”

Rathi adds, “This year has cemented belief that in the hypothesis that content rules way beyond stardom in today’s times. Presence of stars can augment the business, not cement it.”

Ajay Devgn and Tabu’s De De Pyaar De collected Rs 103 crore at the domestic box office.

AUDIENCE CONNECT

For Bharat director Ali Abbas Zafar, it was the “family audiences” that took Bharat to victory. “The reason behind the success is relativity of the film. Bharat stands for the family values and the families made Bharat a hit,” he says. Echoing similar sentiment, producer of the film, Atul Agnihotri says, “The outstanding performance by the entire cast has worked the magic. Good movies are doing well that’s always a wonderful way to be.”

Other films which did well among the family audiences were De De Pyaar De and Luka Chuppi. Producer Bhushan Kumar says, “De De Pyaar De was a love story with a twist of comedy and audiences loved the film and that showed at the box office. It became a family entertainer that grew everyday thanks to word of mouth.”

There were also films that did average to hit business at the box office including Total Dhamaal (Rs 154 crore), Kesari (Rs 154.41 crore), Manikarnika (Rs 92.19) and Student of the Year 2 (Rs 69.11 crore).

Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt’s Kalank turned out to be a disappointment at the box office.

THE UPSETS

And then there were some disappointments as well. Despite a stellar cast, Kalank failed to meet expectations. “Some films were underwhelming compared to what was expected of them. Kalank was expected to cross over Rs 200 crore but could not,” Rathi explains.

Other upsets of this year till now include RAW, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, Sonchiriya, India’s Most Wanted, Why Cheat India and Thackeray.

Also read: Kabir Singh vs Article 15 box office: Shahid Kapoor’s film dominates Ayushmann Khurrana’s latest, inches towards Rs 200 cr

How Bollywood films fared at box office in 2019

Uri (Budget: Rs 45 cr) earned Rs 245.4 cr

Gully Boy (Budget: Rs 70 cr) earned Rs 140.3 cr

Bharat (Budget: Rs 100 cr) earned Rs 207.5 cr (still running)

De De Pyaar De (Budget: Rs 78 cr) earned Rs 103.2 cr (still running)

Badla (Budget: Rs 10 crore) earned Rs 87.6 cr

Kabir Singh (Budget: Rs 60 cr) earned Rs 181 cr (still running)

The Tashkent Files (Budget: Rs cr) earned Rs 17. 2 cr (still running)

Luka Chuppi (Budget: Rs 25 cr) earned Rs 94.8 cr

Kesari (Budget: Rs 80 cr) earned Rs 154.4 cr

Article 15 (Budget: Rs 28 cr) earned Rs 20 cr (still running)

(Approximate trade figures; figures in brackets denote the film’s budget)

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First Published: Jul 01, 2019 17:58 IST