March 1st Week Releases: How Has Bollywood Performed At The Box Office In The Past 10 Years?

Koimoi takes a journey down memory lane, reminiscing about Bollywood films which have rocked and bombed at the box office in the first week of March

By
Ahana Bhattacharya
- March 14, 2017 | 11:36 AM IST
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March is a month of colours! It is that time of the year when we forget everything else and splash ourselves with red, blue, green, purple, yellow, pink, orange and a variety of hues! Yes, March is the season of Holi! Bollywood’s connection to Holi dates back to its beginning with countless films featuring the festival of colours and an ocean of songs being penned on it— Holi Ke Din (Sholay), Rang Barse (Silsila), Aaj Na Chhodenge (Kati Patang), Balam Pichkari (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani), Soni Soni (Mohabbatein) to name a few. But how has Bollywood performed at the box office in March?

What kind of films have released in this month in the past few years? Koimoi takes a journey down memory lane, reminiscing about Bollywood films which have rocked and bombed at the box office in the first week of March in the last 10 years.

That’s quite a variety. Right from action to crime to thriller to comedy and romance— March first week has had every possible variety on its palette! Now let’s have a look at where these movies stand. Were these films successful commercially? Did they receive critical acclaim? And most importantly, did the audience like it?

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Not many films released in March first week have tasted success, but those which have, have turned out to be super-hits like Kangana Ranaut’s Queen, which assigned her the title of Bollywood’s queen or entertainers like Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge, which won people’s hearts with its comic timing. While brainstorming for reasons behind this, I felt perhaps IPL might be a cause. The Indian Premier League has been immensely popular ever since its inception in 2008. The IPL, which happens around this time of the year, attracts not just cricket fans but a lot of youngsters to the stadium, who seem to love cricket in its new format. Also, March is the season of exams. Not just board exams but annual exams in schools across the country also start from February end, which perhaps is a reason why the crowd at theatres gets thinner during this time. Whatever be the reason, a good film never fails to attract movie enthusiasts. As we just saw, a majority of the films listed above were bashed by critics on various grounds.

2017 seems to be lucky for Bollywood as out of the two releases in the first week of March, Deven Bhojani’s action flick Commando 2 has opened to a great response from viewers. Despite casting a two film old action star Vidyut Jammwal and south film actress Adah Sharma (who is also relatively new to Bollywood) in the lead, the film has collected nearly Rs 25 crores till date. Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt starrer rom-com Badrinath Ki Dulhania has hit theatres this week. Let’s wait to see what’s in store for this one!