Patcy N in Mumbai
Half the year has gone by, and it's time to look at how the Hindi film industry fared at the box office.
In the first part of this two-part series, media professional and industry observer Abhijit Mhamunkar gives Patcy N the top 10 hits of the last six months, listed according to their release dates.
Race 2
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ameesha Patel
Director: Abbas-Mustan
Release date: January 26
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 106 crore
The first big film of the year, Race 2 had the advantage of the Republic Day opening weekend.
The action multistarrer did well in both multiplexes and single screens.
Bigger than Race in scale, the film was eagerly awaited and clearly didn't disappoint fans who had loved Race.
Special 26
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kajal Aggarwal, Jimmy Shergill, Manoj Bajpai, Anupam Kher, Divya Dutta
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Release date: February 8
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 74 crore
The film worked with its realistic and sensible treatment.
Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday had done very well and people knew what to expect from him.
Though the film started slow at the box-office, business picked up fast and lasted very long, mostly through word-of-mouth publicity.
Performances by Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpai, and even Akshay Kumar -- in a very different role from what he does usually -- went down well with audiences.
ABCD: Any Body Can Dance
Cast: Prabhu Deva, Ganesh Acharya, Kay Kay Menon, Lauren Gottlieb, Dharmesh Yelande, Salman Yusuff Khan
Director: Remo D'souza
Release date: February 8
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 49 crore
A well-made dance film in 3D, the film featured a standout performance by Prabhu Deva as a troubled dance mentor.
The fact that the film's other protagonists were former dance-based reality show winners (quite popular with the audience) helped ABCD's prospects at the box office too.
The film's director Remo D'Souza too is popular face as a judge on dance reality shows like Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and Dance India Dance.
The climax, with a popular Ganpati dance, helped the film.
Murder 3
Cast: Randeep Hooda, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sara Loren
Director: Vishesh Bhatt
Release date: February 15
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 24 crore
A typical Bhatt formula film, this thriller was a very cost effective project, and helped by the super branding of the Murder series.
Thanks to a good marketing strategy and an engaging second half, Murder 3 managed to grab enough attention.
People either liked the film or hated it, but luckily for the film, there were more of the former.
Also, while all the previous Murder series films got an A certificate, Murder 3 managed to procure a U/A rating, hence expanding the audience.
Kai Po Che!
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit Sadh, Raj Kumar Yadav, Amrita Puri
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
Release date: February 22
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 52 crore
All the three new boys -- Sushant Singh, Amit Sadh and Raj Kumar Yadav -- gave brilliant performances in this film.
This also happens to be one of the rare cases where an average novel (The 3 Mistakes of My Life) translated into a hugely successful film.
It also helped that the film's focus was on cricket and politics -- the two passions of Indian masses and that it was made on a judicious budget.
Jolly LLB
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Amrita Rao, Saurabh Shukla
Director: Subhash Kapoor
Release date: March 15
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 50 crore
A smart budget and its satirical tone helped this film stand out. So much so, that it was compared to the hugely popular Munnabhai series.
The storyline was inspired by the real-life 1999 hit-and-run case of Sanjeev Nanda, which is still fresh in the minds of the public.
Aashiqui 2
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Shaad Randhawa
Director: Mohit Suri
Release date: April 26
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 100 crore
The USP of Aashiqui 2 was its music. Aso, the budget of the film was not very huge. The Bhatts (the producers) know how to get their money's worth.
However, nobody expected the film to do so well at the box office.
Before Aashiqui 2, Aditiya Roy Kapoor was just a newbie who had done a few small roles. Lead actress Shraddha Kapoor had acted in two flops -- Teen Patti and Luv Ka the End.
But people liked the film's music and the direction. A romantic film with good music has always worked in Bollywood.
Shootout At Wadala
Cast: Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Kangna Ranaut, Sonu Sood, Manoj Bajpayee, Ronit Roy, Mahesh Manjrekar, Tusshar Kapoor
Director: Sanjay Gupta
Release date: May 3
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 65 crore
Shootout At Wadala did well in single screen theatres only.
Like all Ekta Kapoor's films, this one too was marketed well.
There were three item songs -- featuring Sophie Choudry, Sunny Leone, and Priyanka Chopra -- that grabbed eyeballs.
Shootout At Lokhandwala had done well so audiences knew what to expect from the sequel.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Roy, Kalki Koechlin
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Release date: May 31
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 188.57 crore
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani ranks number one at the box office. It was the first big film released after the IPL. Audiences were looking for a good entertainer with a big star cast and they got it in YJHD.
It had the same advantage that Salman Khan's Ready had in 2011, or Akshay Kumar's Rowdy Rathore in 2012.
It was a rom-com, plus the pairing of Ranbir and Deepika worked well.
The former couple came together on screen for the first time after Bachna Ae Haseeno in 2008. lt was also their first film together after their real life romance fizzled out and people were curious to see them on screen.
The former couple came together on screen for the first time after Bachna Ae Haseeno in 2008. lt was also their first film together after their real life romance fizzled out and people were curious to see them on screen.
The film's music was already topping the chartsand it was well-packaged for its target multiplex audience.
It cashed in on the fact that wedding and road movies seem to be popular among audiences.
Raanjhanaa
Cast: Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor and Abhay Deol
Director: Aanand L Rai
Release date: June 28
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 33 crore and counting
Raanjhanaa has had a good run so far and has sustained for the entire week since it opened.
The film worked solely because of Dhanush. People who didn't know him or his Kolaveri Di song were surprised to see his performance on screen.
He is a good actor but so far has been known only to a limited South Indian audiences.
The National award-winning actor rose above the script in the way he portrayed his character. The direction was good and so was AR Rahman's music, which became more popular with the film's release.
It is being hailed as Sonam Kapoor's career best performance too.
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