New Delhi: The going was good for Bollywood in 2023, what with the phenomenal success of Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan after a hiatus of four years, followed closely by Jawan. His latest release, Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki is also doing well at the box office.
Then there was Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2 and Ranveer Singh & Alia Bhatt’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal.
Pathaan
Directed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan was released in theatres on January 25 and was reportedly made on a budget of Rs 225 crore. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and John Abraham in lead roles. The spy-thriller had one of the biggest opening day collections – Rs 55 crore, for a Hindi film. It also overtook previous records set by Baahubali 2 and KGF 2 by becoming the fastest film to cross the Rs 200 crore mark. The film collected Rs 654.28 crore at the Indian box office and over Rs 1000 crore at the global box office.
Jawan
The Hindi debut of South director Atlee, the film, produced by Gauri Khan, has Shah Rukh Khan in a double role. It also features Sanya Malhotra, Girija Oak, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureshi, Riddhi Dogra, Sunil Grover, and Priyamani in significant roles. The action-thriller took the box office by storm and became the highest-grossing movie of the year. The Hindi version of Jawan earned Rs 65 crore, while its Tamil and Telugu versions collected Rs 5 crore each on the first day itself. It was also the first film to cross the Rs 100 crore mark on its opening day at the global box office and collected Rs 615.72 crore nett in India in four weeks.
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani
The movie marked Karan Johar’s return to the director’s chair after nearly a seven-year hiatus. The romantic drama hit theatres on July 28. Starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Tota Roy Choudhury, Churni Ganguly, Aamir Bashir in pivotal roles, the movie was appreciated by critics and audiences alike.
Produced by Dharma Productions, it follows the story of Rocky (Ranveer) and Rani (Alia) as they navigate the struggles of convincing their families that they are a compatible couple despite disparate upbringings and values. The film collected Rs 11.50 crore nett in India on its opening day and it also gave Ranveer a much-needed respite from his films not working at the box office. It went on to collect Rs 153.5 crore at the domestic box office.
Gadar 2
Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2 hit the big screens in August. Anil Sharma’s film is a sequel to the 2001 blockbuster film, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. The film is set against the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and tells the story of Tara Singh, who returns to Pakistan to bring his son back.
The film also stars Ameesha Patel and Utkarsha Sharma in lead roles and had reportedly collected Rs 40.10 crore on its opening day in the country. It minted Rs 525.2 crore at the India box office in total.
Animal
No amount of controversy could stop this film from opening with Rs 63.80 crore. Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s directorial venture also stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna and Tripti Dimri. .
As per reports, this is also the first time in the history of Indian cinema that a film with an ‘A’ certificate has minted Rs 100 crore globally on the first day of its release. The film grossed Rs 537.15 crore at the Indian box office.
