Jawan gives boycotting Bollywood a ‘hard slap’ in the face after Animal’s success, 2023 was the year of BO’s ‘resurrection’

2023 was definitely the year of blockbusters. While ‘Pasaan’ and ‘Jawan’ grossed Rs 1,050.30 crore and Rs 1,148.32 crore worldwide, ‘Gadar 2’ grossed Rs 691.08 crore worldwide. did. Animal’s domestic net collection is gradually approaching his Rs 600 million mark. Dhanki currently stands at Rs 323.77 crore (gross). The makers of Salar claim that the film has already grossed over Rs 500 crore (globally). Tu Jyoti Mein Makkar and Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani also created ripples at the box office. Mid-budget films like ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bakke’, ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’, ‘Dream Girl 2′ and ’12th Failure’ also turned out to be big earners.

As it turns out, this year marked the end of the post-pandemic box office drought. According to Ramesh Bala, a Chennai-based trade guru, Pasaan, Jawan, Gadar 2 and Animal have collectively earned around Rs 40-50 crore worldwide. In an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Bala said, “Bollywood has bounced back in a big way” and attributed the end of the doldrums mainly to big action actors. “The Hindi film industry and exhibitors should have no complaints this year. Stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Sunny Deol and Ranveer Singh have delivered results. ” he says.

Trade analyst Atul Mohan feels the business the Hindi film industry has raked in this year is a “huge blow” to its detractors. “People started saying that Bollywood was over, no one wanted to go to the cinemas, and hashtags like #BoycottBollywood were trending. There was a lot of negativity when it came to Hindi films and actors. “The industry has made a great comeback,” he exclaims.

Bala stressed that the film industry in the South cannot be ignored either, recording huge numbers that ultimately contribute to the overall film business. “Salaar is becoming the top grosser in the South. Tamil films ‘The Jailer’, ‘Leo’, ‘Thunivu’, ‘Varis’, ‘Ponniyin Selvan: II’, Malayalam films 2018, Telugu films ‘Salaar’ and ‘Dasara’ ‘Waltair Veeraya’ did very well,” he said.

This year not only Hindi and Southern films but also the Indian box office witnessed the success of several Hollywood films. Commenting on how the Oppenheimer and Barbie effect spilled over into the domestic market, which was already experiencing “a year of revolt and resurgence in a sense,” Akshaye Rati, a film exhibitor, asserts: “Oppenheimer and Barbie was the biggest Hollywood movie. Oppenheimer named India one of the top five markets for Hollywood movies, which rarely happens. It was so symbolic. ”

But he was quick to add that the excitement surrounding Hollywood movie releases was limited to those two blockbusters, and that the second half of the year had been a disappointment. “Due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the flow of Hollywood films became very sporadic and static. It caused production to stall in the West and all films scheduled for release were postponed. . So 2023 wasn’t such a great year when it came to Hollywood movies,” he says.

Moreover, the success of Pathaan and Gadar 2 has revived several single screens across the country that were dominant post-pandemic. “After the lockdown, many single screens went out of business, but when ‘Pathaan’ was released, there were around 20-25 single screens that came back. It has taken on a new life.Many single screens in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been revived with the release of ‘Jawan’,” Mohan said.

While Mohan and Bala believe that mid-budget films gather a large audience both in multiplexes and single screens, Rati has a different opinion. He says, “The only thing that hasn’t happened as much as we would have liked is that mid-range segment and low-budget high-concept films were doing well more often than not. Among 15 major films per year. To be released for 52 weeks, we need more such films starring actors who are not superstars in nature.Pre-pandemic, Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao films had box office receipts of . 100 million rupees, it was at least 7-8 billion rupees. But that is not happening anymore.”

Apart from action, romance and family drama, series like OMG 2 and Fukrey 3 have also done wonders. But the only trend this year was remakes. Mohan said, “If you look closely, all genres have done well, except remakes. ‘Selfiee’, ‘Shehzada’, ‘Bholaa’ and even ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’ are all remakes; It was a big-budget movie, but it was all average.”

Meanwhile, director Bala laments the lack of pan-Indian films this year and agrees that it would have been perfect if a few were released. “Apart from Salar, no pan-Indian films dominated the Hindi-speaking world this year like RRR, KGF, Pushpa and Baahubali. Having said that, there are a lot of big star-starred films that offer a theatrical experience. You can’t ignore the huge crowd draw, and with movies like 12th Fail still being released in theaters after 50 days, even smaller filmmakers can take advantage of the fact that the content is so good. There is hope.”