Surviving tough times

Sheetal

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The year 2021 was no less than a rollercoaster ride for the film industry. The uncertainty was nerve wrecking for the producers and filmmakers. On one side, it was about making a secure, less risky choice with digital platforms as that would assure the minimum possible benefit, while on the other side, it was about opting for the 70 mm screen and getting the audiences back in the theatres.

While films that made a theatrical entry were few in numbers, but some did manage to pull the crowd. Here’s a look:

Last but not the least

The makers of 83, which is about India’s 1983 World Cup victory, had patiently waited for the two waves of Covid to pass for its release. Out at last on December 24, the film managed to beat Sooryavanshi to be at the top of the Bollywood hit list. However, the film was expected to cross Rs 20 crore mark on Day 1, but saw a slow opening with Rs 12.64 crore. Now, the film has grossed a weekend total of Rs 46.59-48.59 crore. It’s a decent sum in comparison to other Bollywood releases of 2021.

Another film Sooryavanshi, in which Ranveer Singh did a special appearance alongside Ajay Devgn to introduce Akshay Kumar in Rohit Shetty’s cop universe, went on in theatres for six weeks straight, Indian gross collection of the film is Rs196 crore. It did business of around Rs 60 crore overseas. Akshay Kumar’s Bellbottom (Rs 30.63 crore) also did well at the box office considering it was the first big Bollywood film to release after the second wave.

Salman Khan’s Antim-The Final Truth (Rs 39.06cr) made a difference and debutant Ahan Shetty’s Tadap ( Rs 26.15cr) also made an impressive mark. In other words, these action films did manage to get some action inside cinema halls. With Chandigarh in its name and homie Ayushmman Khurrana as a lead, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (Rs 26.47cr) did considerably well even on weekdays.

Among the misses there is Bunty Aur Babli 2, which despite the promotion and hype, couldn’t manage to turn it into number and closed in Rs 12.50cr of business in India.

The early effort

Roohi, starring Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma, was one of the early releases which hit the theatres before the second wave. The 20-crore budget film managed to make Rs 22.81 crore by the end of third week and got tough competition from Godzilla Vs Kong which made around Rs 46.58 crore in box office collections in India. South Indian film Master (Rs 4.73crore), which released in January this year, also made a considerable effort to bring the audience into theatres and did better than Thailivi (Rs1.46 crore), which released much after and had Kangana Ranaut as the lead.

Regional or national?

South Indian films such as Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1 which has grossed about Rs 37.28 crore in the first week whipped up a nation-wide craze. Trade analyst, Taran Adarsh went on to tweet about the success of this film released on December 17, “#Pushpa shows no signs of fatigue in mass pockets… #PushpaHindi emerges first choice of moviegoers in those circuits — much, much ahead of #83TheFilm and even #SpiderMan… [Week 2] Fri 2.31 cr, Sat 3.75 cr, Sun 4.25 cr, Mon 2.75 cr. Total: 39.95 cr. #India biz… HIT.”

Despite stiff competition from Hindi films, Marathi film Jhimma wooed the audiences back to theatres in Maharashtra. Punjabi audiences had a tight schedule with a release every week. Honsla Rakh ( Rs 54 crore), Qismat 2(Rs 18 crore), Chal Mera Putt 2 (Rs17.2 crore) are the three films which had done well this year.

Foreign feast

Spider-Man: No Way Home became the biggest post-pandemic blockbuster of 2021. Released in India a day prior to the US release, the film was able to mint Rs 130 crore net by the sixth day of its release.

The film got the biggest present on Christmas Day as it crossed $1 billion mark worldwide and India stands on the eighth position (Rs 200crore on December 26) in numbers behind the US, UK, Mexico, France, South Korea, Brazil and Australia.

Meanwhile, The Matrix Resurrections, which opened a week later, is vying for the number 2 spot among Hollywood films. The James Bond film, No Time To Die, grossed Rs18crore on Indian box office. The Fast and Furious franchise couldn’t pull their fans to theatres for their film, Fast And Furious 9: The Fast Saga with only Rs13.61 crore net business in India.