Agneepath, Rang De Basanti & Other Republic Day Releases

- January 27, 2012 | 4:09 PM IST

Be it Eid, Diwali, Christmas or Republic Day, Bollywood is skilled to cash in on the occasion. While Agneepath, which released yesterday (January 26) has set the box-office on fire, Koimoi.com looks at some other films which were released on earlier Republic days and how they fared at the box-office back then.

Parzania: Republic Day 2007

Flop. This film was inspired by a 10-year-old Parsi boy, Azhar Modi, who had disappeared in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots. Ironically, the film couldn’t release in Gujarat and flopped at the box-office. To the credit of the director, Rahul Dholakia, Parzania was critically acclaimed and even won the prestigious National Award for Best Director.

Salaam-E-Ishq: Republic Day 2007

Flop. Directed by Nikhil Advani and starring Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, John Abraham, Govinda, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Juhi Chawla and others, this multi-star cast film was about six couples, who face different problems in love. The clutter of stories and too many characters ended up confusing the audience.

Rang De Basanti: Republic Day 2006

Hit. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s National award winning film (‘Best Popular Film for providing wholesome entertainment’) was about a British documentary filmmaker who wants to make a movie on Indian freedom fighters. This multi-starrer with Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Siddharth, Soha Ali Khan and Atul Kulkarni, was appreciated by critics and was a hit at the box-office.

Bandit Queen: Republic Day 1994

Hit. Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen was based on the dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi. This film had a lukewarm opening when it released but picked up phenomenally from the third day onwards. The film also received National Awards for Best Regional Film (Hindi) and Best Actresses for Seema Biswas (who played the role of Phoolan Devi).

Ram Lakhan: Republic Day 1989

Super-hit. Produced and directed by Subhash Ghai, this film was about two brothers: a responsible police officer Ram (Jackie Shroff) and an easily tempted dreamer Lakhan (Anil Kapoor). The film was appreciated by one and all and was a musical-hit as well.