There has been a gradual shift in the taste of the audience post the pandemic. Prior to the global lockdown, it was all about experiencing unconventional stories and unique narratives. Ayushmann Khurrana was leading the pack with one success after another. Post the return of cinema halls, the biggest hits the nation witnessed were Pushpa, KGF: Chapter 2, RRR, Sooryavanshi, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, The Kashmir Files, and Drishyam 2.
And in 2023, the biggest hits so far have been Pathaan, Jawan, The Kerala Story, Gadar 2, and most recently, Animal. It’s clear the nation is inclined more towards bronzed bodies and blood and ready to embrace them with all glee. Talking of Pathaan first, Shah Rukh Khan’s first release since the 2018 fiasco Zero. It was the next edition in YRF’s spy universe and brought SRK in a hardcore action avatar, something he always wanted to experiment with. The film broke the record earlier held by Baahubali: The Conclusion (Hindi version) and became the most successful Hindi film of all time.
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In the same year, Khan broke his own record with Jawan making over Rs 550 crore domestically, becoming a much more massive juggernaut. This Atlee Kumar film saw the actor in a dual role, who plays both the father and the son. One is an aging army officer who has lost his memory, the other is a vigilante who refuses to forget how the people in power have wronged the nation and its citizens. The film mixes sermoning with action and drama, and the cocktail of emotions evoked hysterical reactions inside cinemas.
Talking of emotions, Sunny Deol finally hit the bulls eye after 22 years with Anil Sharma’s Gadar 2. Gadar-Ek Prem Katha is rooted in people’s emotions and is a part of nation’s collective nostalgia. Tara Singh and Sakeena’s return to the big screen was welcomed with catharsis and the film, despite clashing with as many as three other titles, smashed more than 500 crore at the box-office.
Ranbir Kapoor is Hindi cinema’s most adorable man-child. He has mastered the art of combining anger, fury, naïveté, and the futility of growing up. In Animal, he’s a crybaby trapped in an angry young man’s body. He breaks bones, fires machine guns, cheats on his wife, but all for his father he adores. He’s a family man thrown into a discomforting world. The trailer did the trick and so did the theme.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga has unleashed all the violence he wanted to and this is just part one. It’s not over until it’s over. And this blockbuster is all set to be the next 500-crore grosser of Hindi cinema. That’s four in one year. 2024 has some serious competition.