Bollywood & Its Brotherly Love : From Amitabh Bachchan – Shashi Kapoor To Akshay-Sidharth

Two is company and three is crowd they say and hence for a long time we have seen Bollywood play the ‘Do Bhai‘ card be it twins or estranged brothers. Newest to join the bandwagon would be Sidharth Malhotra and Akshay Kumar starrer Brothers. Should we say it is an irony that it is a Hollywood remake considering Hindi cinema has a strong backbone when it comes to family dramas.

Whilst Brothers focuses on the estranged brothers part, recently there have been films such as Shahid Kapoor’s Kaminey with the with the twin brothers angle. Also Imran Khan and Ali Zafar starrer Mere Brother Ki Dulhan tried to cash in on the pretty-faced heroes taking the lead without much fodder in the story.

If one takes a look at the classics, there have been the blockbuster films such as Ram Lakhan, Deewar (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor) which were commercial potboilers. Dilip Kumar’s Ram Aur Shyaam too dealt with the story of two estranged twins and his performance in the film was particularly praised.

In most cases, the films featuring a bonding or conflict between the familial ties of brothers have worked well at the box office. The Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan starrer Karan Arjun may have been a larger than life melodramatic film but its popularity knows no bounds. It is listed in the top five when it comes to family dramas and was a box office performer at the time of its release.

While one may have thought that family dramas are a passe today, it is films with a quirky twist like Piku and Dil Dhadakne Do that have worked. They come as a breath of fresh air from the other popular genres today such as erotic and rom-coms.

Thus, looking at the way films have performed in the past, it seems Brothers too will perform decently at the box office.