Bollywood’s first quarter report card: ‘Stale’ remakes send shockwaves, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan emerges as lone saviour

But everything else after that, was either outrightly rejected or accepted– but in moderation. The only two films which could achieve the hit tag were Ranbir Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor starrer Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and Rani Mukerjee-led drama Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway– a film small in scale.

Among those movies that actually shocked were Akshay Kumar starrer Selfiee, which had an abysmal opening of Rs2.55 cr and ended its run at Rs 16 cr, and Kartik Aaryan’s attempt at mass action comedy Shehzada, which fizzled at the box office at Rs 32 cr.

“I would describe the first quarter of Bollywood as kabhi khushi kabhie gham, may be thodi khushi zyada gham,” trade analyst Taran Adarsh told indianexpress.com. Girish Johar, producer and film business expert, said it has been a largely no-show at the box office by Hindi films. “The first quarter has not been up to the mark. The Hindi films have not done too well… Had Pathaan not been there, it would have been a very dismal first quarter. The second quarter is looking good, we have a big lineup coming in April and June, so I’m looking forward to that,” Johar told indianexpress.com.

Adarsh said the year began with Kuttey, which failed at the box office. It wasn’t a big film, but it had big names, actors Tabu, Arjun Kapoor, with filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj attached as the producer. Things turned around with Pathaan but again came crashing down so bad with Selfiee, that Adarsh said people are “still reeling from the shock.”

“Pathaan re-wrote box office records, became the highest grossing Hindi film of all time. Pathaan changed the entire mood of the industry, it was simply euphoric. We were jumping with joy that the industry is back, the audience has returned to cinema halls, everything is booming. Then came Shehzada. For Kartik Aaryan, to go from a Rs 14 cr opening for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 to Rs 6 cr with Shehzada, a much bigger film, was a complete downer.

“The biggest setback of 2023 so far has been Selfiee. It was a shock. It opened to disastrous numbers, sent shockwaves throughout the industry, people are still reeling from the shock. These two films, which came back-to-back in February, were like speed breakers. They brought the morale down. Barring Pathaan and to a certain extent Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and to an extent again, on the lower side, Bholaa, major films tanked at the box office,” Adarsh added.

According to Adarsh, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar found its strength in metro centers, which helped it clock good numbers and trend strongly. The Luv Ranjan rom-com, aided heavily by the chartbuster soundtrack by Pritam and the fresh pairing of Ranbir and Shraddha, released during Holi in March and has so far netted Rs 141 cr.

“Ranbir’s stardom was intact and he proved yet again that he has a certain pull with the youth, which is evident when you watch the numbers of the film. It did well, but not that well as expected, in terms of Pyaar Ka Punchnama franchise or Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Much was expected because of the director, Luv Ranjan and his pairing with Ranbir Kapoor. But it did well, it is a plus film, a hit film for sure,” Adarsh said.

Another film which found its groove and audience was Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, which was a “small budget” film that managed to do “well at the box office”. The Ashima Chibber film, backed by Emmay Entertainment, had a worldwide gross of Rs 34 cr. “The good run of Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway gives me hope because it clearly shows that the audience is still there for nuanced films, good storytelling, not just for larger than life storytelling,” Johar added.

The last March release was Ajay Devgn’s actioner Bholaa. “The film surprisingly didn’t do well in mass pockets as expected. It should have actually, considering it’s Ajay Devgn but somewhere down the line, maybe the emotions were missing, too much action was there. Overall, it wasn’t a great first quarter as such, but Pathaan saved the day. It was truly a saviour,” Adarsh added.

A closer look at the first quarter reveals two glaring patterns for the industry: Remakes aren’t finding acceptance and a good film, even if it is not a spectacle like Pathaan, will find its audience. Shehzada was a remake of Allu Arjun starrer Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, while the 2019 Malayalam film Driving Licence found its Hindi voice in Selfiee. Bholaa, too, was a remake of the Tamil film Kaithi.

“Remakes are definitely one of the factors for these films not working,” Adarsh said. “There are producers who will say, ‘But Drishyam 2 worked!’ That was an exception, and even there they added a very strong parallel track of Akshaye Khanna in it, which was superb. I meet people who are not even remotely connected to the industry, and they say, ‘Bollywood does only copy-paste.’ This is the sentiment on the streets, that bring something new, at least Pathaan was original. People are watching a lot of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam films on OTT, apart from international movies. Why can’t we make original movies then? I think the remake culture will stop now; people have realised it,” he added.

Johar echoed a similar sentiment and said in the age of OTT, remaking films make little sense. “The audience has diminished the windows for remakes. They have already seen the content, OTT is giving them the option of watching them at the press of a button. When they are already watching content that is highly appreciated over there and also at the box office (they won’t show up for remake). That’s the reason why remakes aren’t doing well,” Johar said.

The three months also show the industry that if it mounts even a mid-sized film right, it will land well at the box office. Both Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway defied the talk that on the big-screen, only actioners will work.

“The three successes of varying degree, Pathaan, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, were original stories. At least they tried something different. You can’t say only stars or big heroes will work, because there was a Rani Mukerji also who brought in the audience. It had a limited, very tiny release but it did well over the weeks. There is an audience for good films, they want to watch it, but if you serve them the same stale food then they will not turn up. The audience is waiting for big screen entertainers, provided you give them that. This is a lesson for Bollywood filmmakers, a wakeup call,” Adarsh added.

According to Johar, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar cemented Ranbir as a huge star who has box office pull. “Him having these kind of box office numbers is again a sign that we are back to pre-pandemic levels in terms of content. But we need to be updated as well in terms of quality consumption. Right now, films from all over the world are available on OTT, so we really need to pull up our socks as an industry. I am really hoping that big films, rich in content and quality, make it to the big screens. That’s a critical one.”

Adarsh believes the next quarter will be “fantastic” as biggies like Salman Khan’s Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan, Prabhas starrer Adipurush, Ajay Devgn’s sports drama Maidaan line up for release. “You can’t say that only big films work. A low-cost film can also work very well, which was evident last year also with The Kashmir Files, which went ahead of Radhe Shyam, Bachchhan Paandey, RRR, and worked big time. Even this year, there is Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, which proves that if people like your original content, there is no stopping them,” Adarsh added.