If one was to study Indian cinema of 2022 closely, it would make for one interesting case study. It has been a rollercoaster year for films in India, in fact, a year of extreme highs and lows. More than that, it is the shocks and surprises that it has unfolded. It was a year of formulas no longer working and sleeper and surprise hits taking the industry by the storm. Till about August-September, Bollywood appeared to be a sinking ship.
Even big budget films or films with A-listers seemed to make no or little impact on the audiences.
Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha, which was a Hindi remake of Forrest Gump failed miserably. Made at a budget of Rs 180 crores, managed to garner a collection of Rs 129.64 crores worldwide. Another major Samrat Prithviraj starring Akshay Kumar and former Miss World Manushi Chhillar that was made at a huge budget of Rs 200 crores, it earned only Rs 90.32 crores worldwide gross. On the contrary, The Kashmir Files, a small budget film, made Rs 340.92 crores and changed the dynamics of the industry. Films like Liger, Raksha Bandhan, Ram Setu, which had weak storylines failed to impress the audiences even though they were multi-starrers and in the case of Liger, the Bollywood debut of Vijay Devarakonda.
It was only after the release of Brahmastra – Part One: Shiva and Bhool Bhulaiyya 2 that the Indian film industry breathed a sigh of relief. With VFX by Prime Focus, matching the standard of the Marvel universe, Brahmastra shone at the box office with a collection of Rs 418.8 crores worldwide gross while the latter, that proved to be an entertainer with a promising star-cast, raked in Rs 266.88 crores worldwide. With this, Brahmastra also broke the dry spell in Bollywood. With the pairing of couple Alia Bhatt-Ranbir Kapoor, India’s first ‘superhero’ film and an attempt to create India’s own Marvel universe, was taken well by the audience.
