Bollywood 2012: Small budgets fight it out among 100cr club

While the 100 crore club became a fad in Bollywood this year with star-driven films raking in the moolah at the box office, small budget movies too made their presence felt among the bigwigs with strong content and entertainment factor.

Superstars – Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir – ruled the box office with the success of Ek Tha Tiger, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Talaash, on the other hand the innovative subjects of movies like Gangs of Wasseypur, Kahaani, Vicky Donor and Paan Singh Tomar connected with the audience.

“It was a better year this time. A lot of big and small budget films have done well. New kind of films with innovative subjects were being made and audience liked them. There were only a few disappointments this year. Overall it seems the year was good for the Hindi film industry,” trade analyst Vinod Mirani told PTI.

Kahaani, directed by Sujoy Ghosh and starring Vidya Balan, became a huge hit as a suspense thriller. The film was everything but a typical Bollywood project- pregnant female protagonist, small scale set-up in Kolkata and almost half the dialogues in Bengali.

Another path-breaker was Shoojit Sircar’s Vicky Donor, with the male protagonist playing the role of a sperm donor, a profession still considered a taboo. The film’s music and Delhi-setting was loved by the audience.

Anurag Kashyap’s two-part epic Gangs of Wasseypur was a resounding success. With a rural crime setting, lot of violence and not so famous faces, the film impressed both the critics and the audience. The film was even screened at the prestigious Cannes film festival.

Irrfan Khan-starrer Paan Singh Tomar, story of an athlete-turned-rebel, and Akshay Kumar’s Oh My God, a satire on certain religious beliefs, found resonance both among the critics and audience.

Another film which won hearts was Anurag Basu’s Barfi!. The film had two mainstream actors Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra completely demolish their starry images to emerge as a deaf-mute boy and an autistic girl in love. The film is India’s official entry to the Oscars this year.

Simple yet touching, Sridevi made a successful comeback with English Vinglish playing a housewife who endeavours to learn English.

While offbeat films found their space in mainstream cinema, it was a good year for the masala entertainers too.

Hrithik Roshan-Sanjay Dutt starrer remake of Agneepath became the first movie of the year to reportedly earn Rs 123 crore at the domestic box office. It was followed by Sajid Khan’s multi-starrer comedy Housefull 2.

Films like Prabhu Deva’s Rowdy Rathore, which saw Akshay return to action movies and Rohit Shetty’s comedy Bol Bachchan, also joined the 100 crore club,.

“2012 was one of the best years for us – a year when our strategy of focusing on entertaining and differentiated content across all genres came together in a big way. We had two of the biggest hits of the year Rowdy Rathore and Barfi!,” Siddharth Roy Kapur, Managing Director – Studios, Disney UTV told PTI.

Salman Khan’s major release Ek Tha Tiger, which grossed Rs 186 crore, was his first with Yash Raj Films. Directed by Kabir Khan, the film was a love story of two spies from either side of the border.

His other major release is the sequel to Dabangg, due to hit theatres this Friday. Also starring Sonakshi Sinha and Prakash Raj, the film is expected to be as big a money spinner.

Diwali had the two King of Romances – Yash Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan – unite for the last time to deliver the superhit Jab Tak Hai Jaan.Starring Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the female leads, the film also crossed the 100 crore mark, besides going down in history as the swan song of Chopra.

JTHJ clashed at the box office with Ajay Devgn’s Son of Sardaar but did not hamper its success.Aamir Khan dabbled in the genre of suspense drama with Talaash. Directed by Reema Kagti Talaash went on to earn big money in the domestic and overseas market. The film saw Aamir playing the role of a cop, Rani Mukerji his wife and Kareena Kapoor a prostitute.

Saif Ali Khan returned to romantic-comedy with Cocktail, a genre which has been lucky for him. Directed by Homi Adajania, Cocktail also starred Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty. The film reportedly made on a budget of Rs 35 crore earned Rs 75 crore.

Saif’s other film Agent Vinod co-starring his now wife Kareena Kapoor dabbled with the spy thriller genre. This film had a modest fate at the box office.Among actresses it was Katrina Kaif who had two major releases Ek Tha Tiger and Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Kareena Kapoor had four releases – Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Agent Vinod, Heroine and Talaash out of which Agent Vinod and Heroine despite their hype failed to create magic at the box office.

For Priyanka Chopra Agneepath was a huge hit and her Barfi! performance impressed one and all. Teri Meri Kahani with Shaid Kapoor was disappointing.

Sonakshi Sinha had a good year with Rowdy Rathore and Son of Sardaar becoming superhits but Joker was a flop.

Other films that disappointed this year include Abbas-Mustan’s action thriller Players, south director Gautham Menon’s Ekk Deewana Tha, R Madhavan-Bipasha Basu’s Jodi Breakers, Priyadarshan’s Tezz, Karisma Kapoor’s comeback vehicle Dangerous Ishq, Rani Mukherjee’s Aiyyaa, Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot Returns and Prakash Jha’s Chakrayuh.

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