2022 was a litmus test for film industries across the world. We were just about getting back on our feet after the Covid pandemic, and hence needed big numbers. But nobody saw what was coming, and there were a variety of reasons for some major misses while achieving a few hits.
The OTT boom made audiences complacent, feels the trade. ‘Theatre jaane ka kya faayda? OTT pe aa jaayega’- this attitude crept in, feels trade expert Atul Mohan. And hence, it was only select films which enjoyed the audiences’ patronage.
We also cannot rule out the southern influence- called regional cinema until now. Here’s a lowdown on the hits, the misses, and everything south.
Sequels also seemed to connect with viewers. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 starring Kartik Aaryan and Tabu was a sequel to the hit 2007 film. Tabu says it is not possible to deconstruct why a film did or didn’t do well. “There are so many factors involved. I am extremely elated that the films did well,” she says, also referring to Drishyam 2. Directed by Abhishek Pathak, this sequel (yet again) managed to the hit the bulls-eye.
A mountain of expectations were riding on Ayan Mukerji’s ambitious superhero drama Brahmastra. In the making for years, it starred titans like Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Bhatt. And people turned up in big numbers to see this VFX spectacle. Mukerji is happy with the response, which the film fetched amidst so much uncertainty. “It was validating. There was a lot of pressure on Brahmastra, about the box office, bringing people back. It was a mammoth undertaking just to deliver it. We had seen sparks of people coming in with RRR, KGF 2 earlier this year. Then smaller yet significant ones with Gangubai.. and BB 2. I understand all that but I was playing out Brahmastra like pre-pandemic. Sure, people had not come to see some films, but they did earlier this year when films had quality,” he tells us.
Disappointments were aplenty in 2022. Biggest of films, starring biggest of stars, failed to meet expectations at the box office. Shahid Kapoor’s sports drama Jersey, Tiger Shroff’s Heropanti 2, Ajay Devgn’s Runway 34, Ranveer Singh’s Jayeshbhai Jordaar, Akshay Kumar’s Samrat Prithviraj and Ram Setu, Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, Ranbir Kapoor’s Shamshera... the list was long.
Yes, the correct term today for cinema is pan-Indian cinema, and not regional or Hindi. And films such as SS Rajamouli’s RRR, Yash’s KGF 2, 777 Charlie and Rishab Shetty’s Kaantara more than justified that term. Even in Hindi circuits, these films notched up massive numbers. Adarsh says, “I think the lines are blurred now, it’s all about the Indian film industry. People do compare when Hindi industry doesn’t do well, but that is not the case. Other industries don’t deliver a blockbuster every week, but this year overpowered everything. Even Pushpa- The Rise, which released towards the end of 2021, dominated the first quarter of 2022. It was a great year for those films.”
In fact, North vs South was a debate which became the rage. People were baffled as to what were Telugu, Tamil and Kannada industries getting right, and Hindi wasn’t. Shetty, basking in the success of KGF 2, had told us recently.
