Patcy N in Mumbai
The year has gone by, and it's time to look at how the Hindi film industry fared at the box office.
In the first part, we look at the flops of 2012.
Media professional and industry observer Abhijit Mhamunkar gives Patcy N the 15 biggest hits of the year, listed according to their release dates.
Agneepath
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra
Director: Karan Malhotra
Release date: January 26
Approximate budget: Rs 60 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 150 crore
There was a lot of hype and expectations attached to Karan Johar's production, Agneepath. After all, people wanted to see whether Amitabh Bachchan's 1990 cult film had been remade well.
A big star cast helped the film's prospects at the box office. Strong performances -- especially by Rishi Kapoor -- made the film a winner.
Besides, Agneepath was not aimed at multiplex audiences alone but for the masses as well.
Kahaani
Cast: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Release date: March 9
Approximate budget: Rs 8 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: 104 crore
At first glance, Kahaani looked like a woman-oriented suspense drama.
But when people watched the film, they were surprised to see a partriotic angle to it. The climax certainly was not predictable.
Fresh out of her National Award-winning film The Dirty Picture, Vidya Balan's performance in Kahaani was very good, enhanced by Sujoy Ghosh's able direction.
Housefull 2
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Asin, Jacqueline Fernandez, John Abraham, Riteish Deshmukh, Zarine Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Shazahn Padamsee, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Randhir Kapoor, Boman Irani
Director: Sajid Khan
Release date: April 5
Approximate budget: Rs 70 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 180 crore
Since Housefull had done well, audiences expected its sequel to do well too.
Fun dialogues, good humour and a big star cast ensured that the film was a winner.
Vicky Donor
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Yami Gautam, Annu Kapoor, Kamlesh Gill, Dolly Allhuwalia
Director: Shoojit Sircar
Release date: April 20
Approximate budget: Rs 5 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 40 crore
The film had a novel theme of sperm donation, told in an entertaining way.
With such a story, the film could have been vulgar with crass jokes and double meaning dialogues but it was handled very well by Shoojit Sircar, and family audiences thronged to the theatres to watch it.
The lead pair's chemistry worked well. Supporting actors like Annu Kapoor, Kamlesh Gill and Dolly Allhuwalia were an added treat.
Rowdy Rathore
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha
Director: Prabhu Deva
Release date: June 1
Approximate budget: Rs 40 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 128 crore
After Wanted, Dabangg and Singham, yet another action comedy was aimed at the masses.
South remakes have been doing very well these days because they're in the 1980s mould of action, humour and entertainment.
Bol Bachchan
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin, Prachi Desai, Krushna Abhishek
Director: Rohit Shetty
Release date: July 6
Approximate budget: Rs 70 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 102 crore
Though Bol Bachchan is a Rohit Shetty film, the film was different from his earlier movies.
The Rohit Shetty-Ajay Devgn combination has worked really well at the box office, and the two have become a brand of sorts now.
Bol Bachchan was aimed at the masses, and scored full marks with them. Abhishek Bachchan was also liked by the audiences.
Cocktail
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diana Penty, Dimple Kapadia, Boman Irani
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Release date: July 13
Approximate budget: Rs 35 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 71 crore
Cocktail was a multiplex film, just like Barfi!.
One of the biggest reasons for its success was Deepika Padukone's terrific performance as Veronica.
The film's treatment and its music was great as well.
Ek Tha Tiger
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey, Girish Karnad
Director: Kabir Khan
Release date: August 15
Approximate budget: Rs 65 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 198 crore
Ek Tha Tiger was a well-packaged film of Salman Khan, releasing on Eid.
Also, his coming together with former girlfriend Katrina Kaif was an added bonus. Its banner -- Yash Raj Films -- worked in its favour too.
The film was declared hit as soon as the promos were out.
Raaz 3
Cast: Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta
Director: Vikram Bhatt
Release date: September 7
Approximate budget: Rs 25 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 93 crore
The Raaz movies have always done well, and its third part was no difference.
Horror films with good skin show has always done well with Vishesh Productions and Vikram Bhatt's films.
Emraan Hashmi was good.
The music, however, was its weakest point.
Barfi!
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D'Cruz
Director: Anurag Basu
Release date: September 14
Approximate budget: Rs 30 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 118 crore
Barfi! had fantastic performances by its cast, Ranbir, Priyanka and Ileana.
A smartly directed film for the multiplex audience, it was meant for the masses as well.
Just two weeks after its release, there were reports of it being selected as India's entry for the Oscars -- that also helped the box office collections.
The music was good as well.
OMG: Oh My God!
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Om Puri, Mahesh Manjrekar
Director: Umesh Shukla
Release date: September 28
Approximate budget: Rs 18 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 83 crore
OMG: Oh My God worked because of its concept -- it was a perfect theme for our God-fearing nation.
The film put up some hard real truths with brilliant dialogues.
Paresh Rawal's performance was great. He carried the film ably on his shoulders.
OMG did not have a big budget, so the profits started rolling in early.
Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma
Director: Yash Chopra
Release date: November 13
Approximate budget: Rs 40 crore
Approximate box-office recovery: Rs 121 crore
Since it was Yash Chopra's last film, there was a lot of anticipation.
Plus, Shah Rukh Khan was back in a romantic film after a long time and his pairing with Katrina Kaif was fresh.
Shah Rukh's Diwali releases have always done well, and JTHJ was no exception.
Even its weak script did not deter fans from thronging the theatres.
JTHJ did fantastic business overseas as well.
Son of Sardaar
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla
Director: Ashwin Dhir
Release date: November 13
Approximate budget: Rs 30 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 106 crore
Ajay Devgn has been having a steady run at the box office.
The action comedy formula obviously works. The film was made in such a way that it looked like Rohit Shetty's brand of action comedies.
SOS released on Diwali as well, and that helped its chances.
Talaash
Cast: Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor
Director: Reema Kagti
Release date: November 30
Approximate budget: Rs 40 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 102 crore
Great performances by the leading cast -- Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji -- as well as Nawazuddin Siddiqui helped the film's chances.
A good plot and the big twist at the end worked in its favour. Good word of mouth publicity also helped.
Dabangg 2
Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Arbaaz Khan, Prakash Raj, Vinod Khanna
Director: Arbaaz Khan
Release date: December 21
Approximate budget: Rs 60 crore
Approximate box office recovery: Rs 108 crore so far and counting
Sequels have been doing well at the box office nowadays, and Dabangg and Chulbul Pandey have become a really strong brand.
Mixed reviews did not ruin the film's box office standing.
Since it released during the holiday season and there were no other big releases, fans thronged the theatres.
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