Patcy N in Mumbai
Half 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 of this two-part series, we look at the hits so far.
Media professional and industry observer Abhijit Mhamunkar gives Patcy N the top 10 hits in the last six months, listed according to their release dates.
Agneepath
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra
Director: Karan Malhotra
Release date: January 26
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 150 crores.
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 cult film had been remade well.
A big star cast further helped the film's prospects at the box office. Strong performances -- especially Rishi Kapoor's brilliance -- made the film a winner.
Besides that, the film was projected as one for the masses and not just for multiplex audiencees.
Paan Singh Tomar
Cast: Irrfan, Mahie Gill
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Release date: March 2
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 30 crores.
Even though the film was a biopic, it did not look like a documentary.
The film told the unique story of a military personnel with a sports background, who becomes a dacoit. Irrfan Khan's brilliant performance increased the film's chances because of word-of-mouth publicity.
Kahaani
Cast: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Release date: 9 March
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 104 crores.
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
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 114 crores.
Since Houseful had done well, audiences expected its sequel to do well too.
Fun dialogues, good humour and a big star cast ensured 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
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 40 crores.
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 really well by director Shoojit Sircar. So family audiences thronged to the theatres to watch it.
The lead pair's chemistry worked really well. Supporting actors -- like Annu Kapoor, Kamlesh Gill and Dolly Allhuwalia -- were a treat to watch.
Hate Story
Cast: Paoli Dam, Gulshan Devaiya, Nikhil Dwivedi
Director: Vivek Agnihotri
Release date: April 20
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 17 crores.
People were curious to watch the film because of its titillating trailer and actress Paoli Dam's sex appeal.
But when they watched the film, they realised the film was more than just a skin flick. It was written and directed well.
Plus, it's quite rare to see an unapologetic woman in a Hindi movie.
Jannat 2
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Randeep Hooda, Esha Gupta
Director: Kunal Deshmukh
Release date: May 4
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 22 crores.
More than the lead couple, Emraan Hashmi and Randeep Hooda's chemistry was appreciated.
The film was typical Bhatt fare -- with good music and ample skin show. So loyalists flocked to the theatres, and made it a hit despite the ongoing IPL.
Ishaqzaade
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Gauhar Khan
Director: Habib Faisal
Release date: May 11
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 46 crores.
There was quite a bit of curiosity for Arjun Kapoor, who made his debut with Ishaqzaade. But it was Parineeti's performance that won them over.
After a long time, a violent love story made its way to theatres, and people lapped it up. It also had good music to its credit.
Rowdy Rathore
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha
Director: Prabhu Deva
Release date: June 1
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 128 crores.
After Wanted, Dabangg and Singham, yet another film was aimed at the masses. Akshay Kumar and director Prabhu Deva added to its appeal.
Besides, south remakes have been doing really well these days because they're in the 1980s mould of action, humour and entertainment.
Gangs Of Wasseypur
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chhada, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Release date: June 22
Box office collections (approximately): Rs 22 crores.
A perfect fusion of a desi story told in a Western style, Gangs Of Wasseypur managed to win over the classes as well as the masses.
Now, there is a lot of anticipation for the second part of the film.
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