Two Bollywood biggies of different genres hit the marquee recently. Ali Abbas Zafar’s sci-fi action thriller Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff as court-martialled soldiers who reunite for a mission is one of them. The other is Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s biographical sports drama Maidaan starring Ajay Devgan as Syed Abdul Rahim, a football coach who became an iconic figure in Indian sporting history. It is possible to argue that the clash could have been avoided for the sake of better commercial outcomes for both films, although Maidaan’s paid previews reached a limited number of viewers a day earlier. Neither BMCM nor Maidaan has excelled at the box office, and a turnaround seems highly unlikely. However, their release is a reminder that Bollywood has been offering a variety of films since the start of the year.
Maidaan’s lack of success won’t change the fact that Ajay Devgn continues to be a reliable star. A good result for BMCM, however, would have helped Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, who need a big hit or two soon. Another disappointment of 2024 is Siddharth Anand’s aerial action drama Fighter, a big-budget Hrithik Roshan film that failed to deliver the sort of big returns the industry had expected. Fighter’s inability to become a significant success was a surprise, partly because most critics liked the film. Roshan’s fans shared their disappointment on social media, too, and others were quick to point out that Fighter had failed to emulate the magic of Pathaan, another Anand film starring Shah Rukh Khan, whose spectacular success became the first great story of 2023.
Although Bollywood hasn’t given a big-budget blockbuster this year, the industry has succeeded in giving a good mix of films to the viewer. Some have been mediocre and even worse, yet it is heartening to see the sheer range of films the average filmgoer has either chosen to watch – or rejected. Among the small and mid-size films that have been theatrically released so far, a few have managed to attract audiences in good numbers.
Bollywood has a long history of successful horror films. The latest addition to the list is Vikas Bahl’s supernatural horror film Shaitaan, a modestly budgeted film also starring Devgn along with R Madhavan that has emerged as a success. Rajesh A Krishnan’s heist comedy Crew, starring Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon, is a good instance of a successful film headlined by female stars. Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah’s sci-fi comedy Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya starring Shahid Kapoor and Sanon has worked, too, mainly because the film’s theme and the lead pair’s chemistry appealed to audiences.
One film attracted eyeballs because of the choice of subject: Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s well-paced political thriller Article 370. Revolving around events that led to the abrogation of the controversial Article 370 that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, one highlight of the small-budget film that became a sleeper hit was good performances led by Yami Gautam in the role of an intelligence officer. Some makers have revealed their desire for making films with politically relevant subjects in recent times. If they identify appropriate topics and make good films on them, viewers will gravitate to the theatres in future as well.
So what if Bollywood has been searching for that elusive all-time blockbuster this year? The message conveyed by several other success stories of a smaller variety is that films can do much better than breaking even if the subject and its treatment is right.
The success of a film without big stars is good news, particularly for those producers and filmmakers who wish to make films with offbeat subjects. Kiran Rao’s comedy-drama Laapataa Ladies, a quirky film revolving around a mix-up after marriage that simultaneously conveys a progressive social message, impressed critics and found its share of audiences. A fun ride with enough LOL moments, Kunal Kemmu’s Madgaon Express has also delivered a decent outcome, partly because of its small budget.
A couple of biopics made headlines before their release. One of them is Swatantrya Veer Savarkar based on the life and times of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and directed, co-produced and co-written by Randeep Hooda, who also made a strong statement of his acting ability in the titular role. Ravi Jadhav helmed Main Atal Hoon, a biographical drama whose highlight is Pankaj Tripathi’s performance as former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Those who loved these films might insist that they should have fared better at the box office. Moreover, filmgoers who did not appreciate these films mostly agreed that Hooda and Tripathi had performed remarkably as the two protagonists.
A promising film failed, partly because its director Sriram Raghavan could not match his best. That film was the neo-noir thriller Merry Christmas starring Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif, a well-scripted offering with solid performances by the two leads that did not deserve such indifference from filmgoers. Merry Christmas is, however, destined to join the list of cult films that have become popular after failing to attract viewers to the theatres.
A blockbuster or two in the coming months will not surprise anybody. Until that happens, one can say for sure that at least a few filmgoers who have been spending their precious money to go to the theatres regularly since the start of the year must be reasonably happy. A few films of different genres have been watchable or better, which is not a bad thing.
(The writer, a journalist for three decades, writes on literature and pop culture. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views)
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