BACK WITH A BANG

Nonika Singh

WITH Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘Dunki’ adding to the cheer, the year rolls over in an upbeat mood. The line-up for 2024 is no less exciting. Handsome hunk Hrithik Roshan and the ravishing Deepika Padukone’s smouldering chemistry is likely to set the screens on fire with ‘Fighter’ releasing in January-end. The same month, another significant film, ‘Main Atal Hoon’, a biopic on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is expected to keep its date with screens.

The calendar looks busy with more political drama (‘Emergency’), unlikely pairings (Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon-starrer untitled film), ‘Life in a... Metro’ fame director Anurag Basu’s metro mode encore (‘Metro…. In Dino’), and sequels to successful franchises (‘Singham 3’ and ‘Housefull 5’). Will it keep the ticket counters as busy, like in 2023? Well, filmmakers, including Aamir Khan, are all set and audiences are ready to be willing captives of suspension of disbelief.

As for naysayers, not only do they need to pay heed to the sound of cash registers ringing and echoing in 2024, they must also remember that Hindi cinema isn’t going anywhere. There is no business like show business. If you want proof, check out the total box-office collection of Indian cinema for 2023, which is hovering at a heartening Rs 12,000 crore. And Hindi films can take a bow for contributing the lion’s share.

In 2023, if King Khan, who reclaimed his throne with two mega-hits, found reason to swing and rejoice, the sway of Hindi cinema was unmistakable, too. Clearly, the reset button had been pressed and one film after another roared on the box office. If big-budget extravaganzas did astoundingly well, so did sleeper hits, even ones that flirted with controversy. More than one director, and not just Karan Johar, wielded the directorial baton and found their mojo. His ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani’ marked his directorial venture after a gap of seven years.

The year 2023 began on an optimistic note with ‘Pathaan’ releasing on Republic Day. The dark clouds hovering over the industry were lifted, film by film. If the first hit of the year (‘Pathaan’) was rather expected, the success of ‘The Kerala Story’, starring Adah Sharma, once again proved how nothing piques audience interest more than controversy. As the year closed, cinegoers seemed to be wholeheartedly nodding to Kevin Smith’s dictum, “Controversial, as we all know, is often a euphemism for interesting and intelligent.”

‘Animal’ courted both controversy and box-office success. The more the tribe of critics and sceptics bashed the Sandeep Reddy Vanga film, the more the audiences flocked to cinema halls — to comprehend what the hullabaloo was all about — and ensured it became a raging blockbuster. In the initial part of the year, records were shattered by Shah Rukh Khan’s comeback YRF production, ‘Pathaan’. It made even makers like Anurag Kashyap quip: “People wanted to see Shah Rukh, period.” Interestingly, the film which surpassed ‘Pathaan’ also starred SRK, in a double role at that. Atlee’s directorial ‘Jawan’ crossed the Rs 300-crore mark in the fastest time.

Only the other day, grapevine was abuzz with talk of how South Indian cinema, which even gave us the elusive Oscar this year, had overtaken and overshadowed Hindi cinema. But, in 2023, the alchemy between North and South found the right balance of otherwise mercurial elements. ‘Jawan’ was not only directed by Tamil film director Atlee, but also marked the Hindi film debut of South Indian ‘lady superstar’ Nayanthara. ‘Kabir Singh’ fame director Vanga cemented his domain in Hindi cinema with ‘Animal’. It featured yet another sensation from the South, Rashmika Mandanna. ‘Animal’, with generous amounts of Punjabi tadka, turned out to be quintessentially a story of a Punjabi high on testosterone.

Punjabis had other reasons to preen too. The Deol brothers captured viewers’ imagination and box office. Even though the length of his role in ‘Animal’ was not in sync with fans’ expectations, Bobby Deol created waves with his deliciously devilish Abrar. At 66, Sunny Deol was back in action and once again, his Tara Singh’s ‘over-the-top’ histrionics made us walk down the lanes of nostalgia and one where jingoism is, well, just another name for patriotism. There was more of ‘Balle Balle Punjab’ or Punjabis with Ranveer Singh acing the livewire raucous act in the delectable ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani’.

Of course, post-‘Animal’, talk once again centred on whether Ranbir Kapoor is the biggest superstar of his generation. His earlier outing in the year, Luv Ranjan’s ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar’, too, was a super-hit.

If masala magic cast its spell and superstars ruled the marquee, scales were evenly tipped in favour of smaller stars too. Vikrant Massey’s heart-warming and inspirational ‘12th Fail’ passed with flying colours. Undeniably, Vidhu Vinod Chopra still knows how to win hearts and audiences. Kartik Aaryan remained a bankable star as ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’, a take on date rape, entered the Rs 100-crore club. Yet another love story, ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’, focussing on a middle-class couple played by Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan, too, tugged at the heartstrings. Once again, the gnawing disconnect between what cinegoers want and critics approve of was apparent. The only time that they were on the same page was perhaps when the much-hyped ‘Adipurush’ got a thumbs-down from both.

But before trade pundits could calculate the damage wreaked by this insipid retelling of Ramayana on the fortunes of filmdom, hits were en route. More heartening was the fact that even when big-ticket films clashed, neither was a loser. ‘Gadar 2’, with a collection of Rs 691 crore worldwide, turned out to be one of the top-grossing films of 2023. But ‘Oh My God 2’, released on the same date, also did more than decent business of Rs 220 crore. Similarly, the unstoppable theatrical run of ‘Animal’ could not stall the successful stint of ‘Sam Bahadur’, a biopic on Sam Manekshaw.

The year ended on a positive note. Hirani’s ‘Dunki’, starring King Khan, opened to packed cinema halls. While most critics panned the film, it had recovered its expenses and crossed the Rs 200-crore mark in five days.

Clearly, all those busy writing the epitaph of Hindi cinema and its superstars had to literally do a double-take and eat their words this year. New benchmarks were created in what can easily be summed up as the year of blockbusters. Will 2024 prove to be more of the same?

#Deepika Padukone #Hrithik Roshan