Reply With QuoteBollywood box office report 2019: First quarter breaks all records with success of Uri, Total Dhamaal and Kesari
Three months into the year 2019, and it is already raining blockbusters for the Hindi film industry. Beginning with Vicky Kaushal starrer Uri: The Surgical Strike which set the cash registers ringing in January itself, films like Gully Boy, Manikarnika, Luka Chuppi, Total Dhamaal, Badla and Kesari have contributed in making the first quarter of the year a hit.
The first quarter of 2019 has recorded an impressive 20 per cent growth over the first quarter of 2018. “This is the best quarter (in terms of box office collections) in the history of Bollywood. In January, we had Uri. in February, Gully boy did exceedingly well. Then there were Total Dhamaal and Kesari which also raked in the moolah. These films did exceedingly well and thus proved to be profitable in a period which is traditionally considered a dull one. If you see vis a vis last year’s quarter when we clocked around Rs 900-950 crores in the cumulative box office, this year it is expected to have roughly collected Rs 1100-1150 crores,” said film trade analyst Girish Johar.
“It is a 15-20% jump from last year and that’s fantastic. With summer season kicking in, I hope this rise in box office collection continues,” added Johar.
Uri crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in January itself. It earned a total amount of Rs 245.36 crore in its eleven-week run in the theaters. Not only this, but the Aditya Dhar directorial also became the 10th highest grossing Hindi film ever joining the likes of Baahubali and Dangal. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh had shared, “#Uri emerges 10th highest grossing *Hindi* film ever… 1. #Baahubali2 [#Hindi], 2. #Dangal, 3. #Sanju, 4. #PK, 5. #TigerZindaHai, 6. #BajrangiBhaijaan, 7. #Padmaavat, 8. #Sultan, 9. #Dhoom3, 10. #UriTheSurgicalStrike. Note: Nett BOC. India biz.”
Apart from Uri, it is Akshay Kumar’s Holi release Kesari which succeeded in pulling people to the theaters. The film became the top opener for 2019 with a collection of Rs 21.50 crore on the day of its release and has collected Rs. 125.01 crore until now. Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy (Rs 139.93 crore), Indra Kumar’s Total Dhamaal (Rs 153.58 crore), Sujoy Ghosh’s Badla (Rs 81.79 crore), Kartik Aaryan starrer Luka Chuppi (Rs 92.05 crore) and Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika (Rs 92.19 crore) also added to the total collection of the quarter.
Captain Marvel’s performance in India hinted at the consistent rise that Hollywood movies have seen in box office collections in India. The Brie Larson starrer amassed Rs 82.86 crore within four weeks of its release. It surpassed the lifetime earning of superhero films including Justice League, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man.
Sharing his observation about the new box office trend, Girish Johar said, “The beauty of this quarter is that every genre worked. Be it Badla (thriller), Kesari (patriotic drama), Uri (action and patriotic drama), Total Dhmaal (madcap comedy), Luka Chuppi (rom-com) or Gully Boy (high-end youth-oriented film) all reaped profits. So, in a nutshell, the best thing is that good content has worked irrespective of the genres.”
