Bollywood’s third quarter showed great results at the box office. And don’t be surprised because the content that was churned out was equally interesting and good. Commercial fare took the spicy, gritty, smart route, and the films for the intelligentsia remained largely missing from the quarter altogether. The shocking part is that the third quarter has no super hits. While Ek Villain performed primarily in this quarter, the film was a release from the last quarter of the year and also the last super-hit at the domestic box office.
The 3rd quarter began on a low note with releases like Bobby Jasoos and Lekar Hum Deewana Dil kicking it off. Both films performed badly and while Vidya Balan starrer Bobby Jasoos was a better than average film with an interestingly packaged storyline, the box office cumulative of both, were shockingly low. The films earned 10.85 crores and 2.50 crores respectively.
Bobby Jasoos and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania movie posters
The next release of July was Dharma’a Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania starring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt in lead roles. Made on a small budget, the film recovered its investment well by settling at a lifetime earning of 76.81 crores at the domestic box office. An unusual take on Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayengey, the film became a hit with the young crowd rooting for it.
On 18th July, released three forgettable films; definitely not unwatchable, but the three had something fundamental missing from them. Vir Das’ Amit Sahni Ki List was a good concept butchered by its director. The film scored a flop with a total earn of 4 crores. Pizza 3D too was a good concept which failed because of its loopy writing and funny make up of the laughable ghosts. At 4.35 crores, the film was again a flop. And finally it was the sleaze fest, Hate Story 2 which despite every ingredient to be a crowd-puller could not score beyond a plus at the box office. The film made 27.16 crores at the box office.
But 25th July was so far the year’s biggest day at the box office. Salman Khan ironed the woes of Jai Ho with a smashing Kick. Bhai Loyalists enjoyed the film and the non-Bhai loyalists couldn’t get enough of hammy Nawazuddin Siddiqui who was nothing short of pitch perfect. Despite a very high budget, the film became a hit with an earn of 233 crores at the box office.
Kick, Entertainment and Singham Returns movie posters
But August began low. Entertainment was all about poor dialogues and being unfunny. In a film where a dog’s cuteness overpowers Akshay’s Khiladi-ness, you can imagine what went wrong with the film. But the film still made over 72.50 crores at the box office and was declared a plus.
The Independence Day release was Rohit Shetty returning with his convoy of flying cars and the roaring Singham by his side. Singham Returns had Ajay Devgn reprising the iconic role and the film despite taking a good opening and joining the 100 crore club settle for a lifetime business of 141 crores. It was a plus at the box office.
Rani Mukerji’s married life did not deter her from being terrific and Mardaani stands proof to the same. Based on sheer good content, the film despite being rated ‘A’ by the Censor Board became a hit with 36 crores earning in total from the domestic market.
Mardaani, Raja Natwarlal and Mary Kom movie posters
August ended as underwhelmingly as it began. While atleast Akshay’s Entertainment earned better bucks, Emraan Hashmi’s presence and hot smooches could not guarantee the same for Raja Natwarlal. At 29.50 crores business in total, the film failed to recover its investment.
September began with Priyanka Chopra delivering the most memorable performance of her career in a film that can be called plastic, at best. The film that was a biopic based on the life of Manipuri Boxing Champ Mary Kom became a hit with the film earning 59 crores. Who said you need a male lead to make a film do well?
Creature 3D by Vikram Bhatt starring Bipasha Basu was one average thriller. With Brahmrakshas variety of regressive talk, the film worked well at single screens and became a hit by earning merely 20 crores. The low budget of the film worked in its favor.
It was Homi Adajania’s Finding Fanny starring Deepika Padukone and Arjun Kapoor that was a surprise hit. At 32.86 crores, the film that is a story set in Goa is already a hit and still running at the theaters!
Finding Fanny, Daawat-e-Ishq and Creature 3D movie posters
The next week saw Daawat-e-ishq clashing with India’s first Disney film Khoobsurat. Content wise the former was weaker, box office wise they performed neck to neck. Khoobsurat is thriving still because of its better content and is currently at 26 crores at the box office. Daawat-e-Ishq is currently standing at 24.20 crores at the box office. The film are still running at the theaters and will continue to do so till Haider and Bang Bang take over.
The week after that saw the release of a few films that were nothing short of nightmares. Chaarfutiya Chhokare and Desi Kattey don’t even deserve a mention and 3 AM despite being a watchable film is running low due to lack of positive word of the mouth publicity. The film failed to score even a crore at the box office, all of them put together.
All in all, the third quarter of 2014 cannot flaunt any superhits but saw 5 hits, 3 plusses, 4 flops and Raja Natwarlal scoring as a losing. Though there is hope for Khoobsurat and Daawat – E -Ishq left till today, the other films are clear wipe outs!
The next quarter has the biggest films of the year. With Bang Bang and Haider releasing tomorrow, there is Shah Rukh Khan’s magnum opus Diwali release Happy New Year, Ranveer Singh-Parineeti Chopra starrer Kill Dil, Aaamir Khan’s P.K and Akshay Kumar’s The Shaukeens. So much more awaits on the other side that all the audiences must do is to begin saving up for the most fertile quarter of 2014.
