The BIGGEST August Releases

Due to the Independence Day holiday, August has traditionally been a very lucrative month for Bollywood.

In fact, Akshay Kumar holds the record for releasing the most films around this time.

Joginder Tuteja looks at the biggest Bollywood hits in August in the last decade.

 

Mission Mangal, 2019
Box office collection: Rs 203 crore

2019 had as many as three big releases in August.

Akshay Kumar scored his first Rs 200 crore club blockbuster with Mission Mangal, a film where he shared the credits with Vidya Balan, Nithya Menon, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Kirti Kulhari and Sharman Joshi.

Prabhas' Saaho was a good success as well, earning Rs 150 crore, and John Abraham just missed scoring a century with Batla House (Rs 99.50 crore).

 

Stree, 2018
Box office collection: Rs 130 crore

August had three big hits the year before that too.

Stree emerged as a surprise blockbuster as it went on to take a great opening and then go on to go much beyond the century mark.

There was an Independence Day clash with Akshay Kumar's Gold (Rs 105 crore) and John Abraham's Satyameva Jayate (Rs 90 crore).

While former did well at the multiplexes, the latter shone at the single screens.

 

Toilet - Ek Prem Katha, 2017
Box office collection: Rs 134.25 crore

It was an Akshay Kumar show in 2017 when his Toilet - Ek Prem Katha went on to become a clear superhit at the box office.

It, in fact, went on to break the long standing box office record of Rowdy Rathore which had netted at Rs 133 crore.

This time around, Akshay added a social message in his film, which broke more taboos than box office records.

 

Rustom, 2016
Box office collection: Rs 128 crore

In 2016, Akshay scored a superhit with Rustom, based on the Nanavati case.

Chartbuster music played a major role in this film's success.

 

Brothers, 2015
Box office collection: Rs 85 crore

The only Akshay Kumar starrer that didn't quite cover the Rs 100 crore distance on Independence Day was Brothers.

The film went past the Rs 80 crore mark, but the high costs of production affected its box office outcome.

Both Akshay and Sidharth Malhotra went through some excruciating times physically to get their parts right, but unfortunately, their effort wasn't noticed.

Singham Returns 2014
Box office collection: Rs 140 crore

When Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty decided to bring their sequel to Singham on screen, audiences lined up for it and gave it a thumping initial. They also ensured that it emerged a superhit.

Singham is a popular franchise and whenever Singham 3 arrives, it will create dhamaka for sure.

 

Chennai Express, 2013
Box office collection: Rs 227 crore

It has been eight years since Shah Rukh Khan delivered a hit but when Chennai Express released in 2013, it was a major winner for everyone involved.

This was the first outing for Rohit Shetty with the superstar and Deepika Padukone.

Chennai Express went on to do well at multiplexes as well as on single screens.

 

Ek Tha Tiger, 2012
Box office collection: Rs 199 crore

It took seven long years for the long standing record of Ek Tha Tiger to be broken.

The Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer was a blockbuster success in 2012, when it almost reached the Rs 200 crore mark.

The film's lifetime collections record was held firmly by the Kabir Khan directorial until Mission Mangal arrived in 2019.

 

Bodyguard, 2011
Box office collection: Rs 149 crore

Before Ek Tha Tiger, Salman scored an August record in 2011 when his Bodyguard emerged a blockbuster.

A remake of the namesake Malayalam film, the action romantic musical with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Hazel Keech was loved by audiences.

Katrina Kaif's special song-n-dance appearance in the title track helped too.

 

Peepli [Live], 2010
Box office collection: Rs 30 crore

August releases started picking up from 2011 onwards because in the year before that, Aamir Khan's production Peepli [Live] had done surprisingly well.

The collections may have been Rs 30 crore but for a film with no stars in its cast, Peepli [Live] was the only hit of August 2010.