2022 has reached the halfway mark, and it's time to see how Bollywood has fared at the box office.
It is critical this year since theatres were not functioning for the most part of the last two years, and it's only in the last five months that we are seeing regular screenings.
Though there have been hits and misses, the good news is that at least movies are releasing now.
It's only a matter of time before things become normal once again.
Joginder Tuteja looks at the releases, which did a minimum lifetime business of Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million). Unfortunately, the list is not very long.
KGF - Chapter 2 [Hindi]
Box office collection: Rs 434.70 crore (Rs 4.34 billion)
The mightiest of them all is KGF - Chapter 2, which came from the Kannada film industry and ended up making a bigger splash in Hindi.
Though it did exceedingly well in South as well across different languages, it arrived like a storm in Hindi and just refused to stop.
Next only to Baahubali - The Conclusion (at Rs 511 crore/Rs 5.11 billion), the Yash-starrer has emerged as an all-time blockbuster.
RRR [Hindi]
Box office collection: Rs 274.31 crore (Rs 2.74 billion)
This was the time when trade analysts across industries started believing that anything that comes from the south would be a success.
Well, there have been quite a few failures too, but RRR (Hindi) was not among them.
S S Rajamouli came up with a massive entertainer starring NTR Jr, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn and audiences across the country were left impressed.
Another blockbuster.
The Kashmir Files
Box office collection: Rs 253 crore (Rs 2.53 billion)
Now where did this one come from?
Director Vivek Agnihotri had made a small film The Tashkent Files in 2019, which had done well on the basis of word-of-mouth.
For the second in the triology, one expected the business to double.
But what happened was beyond imagination, as the film turned out to be a rage.
It ate away everything that came in its way!
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
Box office collection: Rs 185 crore (Rs 1.85 billion)
Between two dubbed films and one niche outing, if there is one true Bollywood film that actually ended up being a rage, it was Anees Bazmee's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.
The film opened better than expected, but the kind of sustenance it has enjoyed is what makes its success so important.
Kartik Aaryan has now firmly established himself as a superstar with this film.
Gangubai Kathiawadi
Box office collection: Rs 129.10 crore (Rs 1.29 billion)
After the release of Sooryavanshi last year, no films did well.
Then the pandemic came back in its third wave, and all plans went for a toss again.
This is when Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Alia Bhatt decided to bring out their labour of love, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and the rest was history.
Samrat Prithviraj
Box office collection: Rs 70 crore (Rs 700 million)
Akshay Kumar's Samrat Prithviraj was pitched as the next Rs 200 Crore Club success.
The reasoning was valid, especially since Yash Raj Films was backing it up.
But all that was back in 2018.
Things changed as the first pandemic happened and audiences ended up seeing KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR.
The big film didn't seem as big any more.
JugJugg Jeeyo
Box office collection: Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million, and counting)
Karan Johar marketed and promoted JugJugg Jeeyo aggressively and audiences gave it a nod of approval too.
A well made film which has caught everyone's attention, it has been doing rather well and will end up doing good business.
Bachchhan Paandey
Box office collection: Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million)
Akshay Kumar started his 2022 campaign with Bachchhan Paandey, where he got into a really different avatar.
The 'masala' film ended up arriving at a time when The Kashmir Files had got audiences in a totally different mind space.
The buzz around Bachchhan Paandey subsided and the film failed.
Runway 34
Box office collection: Rs 33 crore (Rs 330 million)
During the pre-pandemic days, a film like Runway 34 would have fetched a respectable opening, and then done well on the basis of word of mouth, at least in multiplexes.
But the last few years, the tastes of the audience has changed, thanks to the content on OTT.
Runway 34 ended up being tagged as an OTT outing, and is doing much on the platform than in theatres.
Heropanti 2
Box office collection: Rs 26 crore (Rs 260 million)
When the first promo released, the feedback was rather muted.
However, things got better when the second promo arrived, especially the song Whistle Baja.
That helped the Tiger Shroff starrer to take at least a reasonable opening at the box office.
The critical acclaim as well as audience feedback was not positive and the film sank.
Badhaai Do
Box office collection: Rs 20.62 crore (Rs 206.2 million)
The first release post the pandemic, the very fact that Badhaai Do has made it to the list of movies with a lifetime collection of over Rs 20 crore shows how difficult it is to even gather such numbers this year.
So many big films like Jersey, Attack - Part One, Anek, Dhaakad, Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Jhund could not even come close.
Still, this Rajkummar Rao-Bhumi Pednekar film managed to score reasonably.
