What a remarkable year it has turned out to be for Bollywood. Post pandemic, when theatres reopened in 2021, Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi was the only commercial success. Things started getting better in 2022 with Brahmastra, Drishyam 2, The Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, among others, turning out to be successful. However, these successes were still sporadic, and one couldn’t say with confidence that Bollywood had returned in a big way.
Well, at the close of 2023, it's easy to say that Bollywood is back with a bang - what with a flurry of blockbusters across all seasons - from Pathaan in January to Gadar 2 mid-August, Pathaan in September and Animal coming out on December 1, 2023 - all of which have made in excess of Rs 500 crore at the Indian box office, setting a new benchmark for Bollywood.
When Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan, his first film in theatres in four years, crossed the Rs 500-crore mark, it seemed like an aberration. However, when Sunny Deol did the same with his comeback film Gadar 2 (in which Deol reprised his role as Tara Singh 22 years after Gadar: Ek Prem Katha released in theatres), then it started becoming clearer that the right Hindi film at the right time could well emerge as such a huge grosser.
No wonder when it came to Jawan, directed by Atlee, everyone was sure that this too would be a huge success and it did that in style by going past the Rs 600 crore mark. However, the biggest surprise was Animal, which industry watchers expected would do Rs 200-300 crore of business, but which ended up in the 500 Crore Club.
Another surprise success was The Kerala Story which is actually the biggest success story of 2023 when it comes to RoI. On the other hand, Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was mounted quite well, but it barely managed to go past the Rs 150 crore mark.
Diwali release Tiger 3 starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif crossed the Rs 250 crore mark but struggled to close the gap to Rs 300 crore. On the other hand, audiences flocked to see OMG 2 about the need for sex education in Indian schools and home, and made the Akshay Kumar, Pankaj Tripathi and Yami Gautam starrer a major success.
As for Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, they have given us multiple successes in 2023. Apart from Pathaan and Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan was also seen in Dunki which is currently playing. The film has entered the Top-10 Bollywood grossers' list already. From here on, the film may overtake Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani in terms of Indian box office earnings, but will likely find it difficult to challenge The Kerala Story numbers.
Ranbir Kapoor had Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar to his credit, a romcom that was a commercial success, crossing Rs 220 crore worldwide, including Rs 177.44 crore at the Indian box office.
There were a few major disappointments as well, as the films just didn’t do well enough at the box office. Adipurush (Hindi) started off well, but such was the backlash for the Prabhas starrer, that it folded up at Rs 136 crore. Mission Raniganj could not really find its theatrical audience and folding up at Rs 33.74 crore. That said, on OTT, it has been doing well. Ditto for Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada, which had a very low theatrical run of Rs 33 crore.
Meanwhile, a couple of films just couldn’t take off at all, like Akshay Kumar’s Selfiee which folded up at Rs 16.85 crore and Tiger Shroff’s Ganapath which couldn’t hit the double-digit mark and ended its run at Rs 9.70 crore. With the two actors coming together in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan next Eid, one can well expect the duo to be firing on all cylinders.
Top-10 highest grossers of 2023
Jawan - Rs 644 crore
Pathaan - Rs 654.28 crore
Animal - Rs 550 crore (still playing)
Gadar 2 - Rs 525.45 crore
Tiger 3 - Rs 285 crore
The Kerala Story - Rs 242.20 crore
Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani - Rs 153.60 crore
OMG 2 - Rs 150.17 crore
Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar - Rs 149.05 crore
Dunki - Rs 170 crore (9 days)
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
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