A LOOK AT THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR!

One half of 2015 is about to come to a close. Although the last two months saved the day somehow in terms of collections, it hasn’t been a great half-year till now. PK released in Dec 2014 and after that, for almost 2 months, there was not a single hit film. In these 6 months, films expected to be commercial hits like Tevar, Hawaziaada, Khamoshiyan, Shamitabh, Roy, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Dirty Politics, Ek Paheli Leela, Mr X, Kuch Kuch Locha Hai, Bombay Velvet and Hamari Adhuri Kahani proved to be duds. Shamitabh and Roy were too costly for their genre and zone and lost lot of money. Bombay Velvet, meanwhile, turned out to be one of the biggest disasters of all time or maybe THE biggest disaster ever. Badlapur, NH10 and Dum Laga Ke Haisha were hits but not all-India. Baby was average despite great word of mouth. It’s only in the month of May that the industry had its first all India success – Gabbar Is Back.

An interesting trend was seen this year with Piku and Tanu Weds Manu Returns. Both these films had an okay-to-good opening but collections increased dramatically on Day 2 and then even more on Day 3. Tanu Weds Manu Returns stunned everyone as it not only was the first 100 crore grosser of the year, but it was also an all time blockbuster. Nobody expected that this R Madhavan-Kangana Ranaut starrer would touch hearts of so many people across the country and gross more than 140 crore! The second film which is on its way to cross the 100 crore mark is ABCD 2. Again, it doesn’t boast of stars and is on its way of becoming a very big hit.

Even in terms of quality, audiences got a chance to see some entertaining as well as out of the box stuff. Baby was terrific. So was Badlapur, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, NH10, Hunterrr, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Margarita With A Straw, Piku, Dil Dhadakne Do etc. All of them might not be big hits but were great entertainers nevertheless.

All eyes are on the next crucial 6 months. It’ll start with a bang with Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Drishyam, Bangistan, Brothers, Phantom, Welcome Back, Katti Batti, Singh Is Bling, Rocky Handsome, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Dilwale, Bajirao Mastani etc will hopefully be bit hits and help the industry a bit. But in terms of quality, it’ll surely be a great time for moviegoers. Bring it on!