In 2022, Bollywood came out of Covid crisis and tried to stand up on its feet with films such as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Drishyam 2, Brahmastra, The Kashmir Files among others proving to be profitable. Even as the ‘Boycott Bollywood’ brigade marched on social media, pan-India projects including KGF 2, RRR, and Kantara roared at the box office. But will Bollywood be able to bounce back and come out even stronger in 2023?

While the year has an impressive line-up with movies such as Selfiee, Shehzada, Bholaa, Pathaan, Dunki, Sam Bahadur, Fighter and Animal already making noise for all the right reasons, it’ll be interesting to see how they fare at the box office.

Talking of what may or may not work, members of the fraternity feel that 2023 will majorly be about Shah Rukh Khan with his three projects - Pathaan, Jawan and Dunki lined up for release, even though Salman Khan has Tiger 3 and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan dropping back-to-back.

“All eyes will be on SRK. Pathaan is going to be a complete package, thanks to director Siddharth Anand. Also, rumours of cameos by Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff have created a hype,” feels trade expert Atul Mohan, adding that Jawan is expected to succeed at the box office given the record of director Atlee down south.

Looking back, trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “There were a lot of shocks and surprises last year. We are going to see the same in 2023, which is packed with films with very interesting stars and equally interesting subjects.”

After a long time, the year ahead will also see a slew of mainstream actors having multiple releases, from Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor to Kartik Aaryan and Sidharth Malhotra. “Kartik Aaryan and Ranbir Kapoor are in that phase of their careers where they are doing the movies they love. Kartik is definitely going to be in the top three actors this year in terms of popularity,” says Mohan.

As for Ranbir, given that he had a mixed 2022 with Shamshera and Brahmastra, 2023 could be crucial, with Animal and Luv Ranjan’s Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. “You can expect both to hopefully cross 100-crore mark each at the box-office,” says Adarsh.

Another actor the industry is placing all its bets on, is Akshay Kumar. “Selfiee and OMG 2! are commercial films and will see Akshay in an entertaining manner, something people love,” says director Milap Zaveri, adding that 2023 is going to be about masala entertainers.

“Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada and Ajay Devgn’s Bholaa will hopefully set the box office on fire. Then, Prabhas and Kriti Sanon’s Adipurush is definitely going to be one of the biggest highlights of 2023. Despite the film facing flak, the movie is going to open big,” Zaveri says.

Actor Ajay Devgn, meanwhile, will follow up the success of Drishyam 2 with Maidaan and Bholaa, feels trade expert Komal Nahta. “Besides the big-budget releases, Fukrey 3 is also expected to draw audiences into theatres. Since it’s the third film in the franchise, so it’ll be bigger and more ambitious,” says Nahta.