2022 was a dreadful year for Bollywood at the box office, with one disaster after another.
Things have started looking up with Drishyam 2 doing terrific business, followed by Bhediya.
Will these December theatre releases also bring in good cheer in keeping with the Christmas spirit?
Joginder Tuteja lists them out.
An Action Hero
Release date: December 2
The December movie calendar starts with Ayushmann Khurrana's An Action Hero. The promo of this Aanand L Rai production is rather quirky and promises a unique story.
With Jaideep Ahlawat as the antagonist, it's the coming together of two fantastic actors that should make things exciting for the audience.
HIT 2
Release date: December 2
On its release, the Telugu film HIT was a sleeper success at the box office, but its OTT release had fetched a better audience base.
As a result, the Hindi remake of this suspense drama was made with Rajkummar Rao in the lead. Unfortunately, it flopped.
Meanwhile, the makers of the Telugu original are taking the franchise forward with Adivi Sesh in the leading role this time.
The murder of a young woman sets off the investigation in HIT 2.
Salaam Venky
Release date: December 9
Kajol has been doing very few movies and incidentally, in each of her last three films, she has been playing a mom: Be it Tribhanga, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior or Helicopter Eela.
In fact, barring Tanhaji, which was more of a special appearance, the other two releases featured her as the lead with the mother-child relationship at the core of the story.
The same relationship is explored in Salaam Venky where she plays the mother of a terminally ill boy (Vishal Jethwa).
Maarich
Release date: December 9
Tusshar Kapoor returns to the big screen after five years with Maarich. He was last seen in the 2017 blockbuster Golmaal Again.
Surprisingly, he chose to stay away from the big screen though he did feature briefly in the Web series, Booo: Sabki Phategi.
Instead, he concentrated on production and made Laxmii. Maarich is also his production.
Here, he plays a cop trying to nab a killer. The thriller also stars Naseeruddin Shah and Rahul Dev.
Vadh
Release date: December 9
Producer Luv Ranjan gives us Vadh, a dramatic tale of a middle-aged man (Sanjay Mishra), who kills a tormentor and then hatches a plan to dispose off the body, only to confess his crime in front of the cops. Vadh also features Neena Gupta as his wife, who supports him in this crime.
This one is a realistic tale that could well have arrived straight on OTT, but one waits to see how audiences will react to it in theatres.
Avatar: The Way of Water
Release date: December 16
The biggest international film arrives this month: Avatar: The Way of Water.
One has been waiting for the release of this James Cameron creation even since we saw the first part in 2009.
The advance booking for the film has already started and by the look of things, it would compete with the likes of KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR as far as the biggest opening day is concerned.
Cirkus
Release date: December 23
Rohit Shetty's Cirkus should bring the laughs back for the audiences as well as the exhibitors.
With Ranveer Singh and Varun Sharma in a double role each, Pooja Hegde and Jacqueline Fernandez feature as their leading ladies.
The comedy of errors is set in the 1960s, and features a strong supporting cast of Tiku Talsania, Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Brijendra Kala, Mukesh Tiwari, Ashwini Kalsekar and Vrajesh Hirjee.
