Eight big-starrers joining the Rs 100-crore club, unusual-themed small-budget movies turning into miraculous hits and almost no major setbacks among about 150 releases: Bollywood's 2012 box office report card has set a benchmark, say trade pundits.
They contend that with a reportedly Rs 2,273-crore profit, it has been a 'balanced' year for the Hindi film industry, which can now look forward to more fireworks and a Rs 200-crore club in the next two years.
Summing up 2012 as 'a balanced year', Vinod Mirani told IANS: "Be it small budget films or big films or unusual genres - all of them worked well at the box office. This year was better than the last few years because all kinds of films worked, which is a very positive sign."
In the first half, a bouquet of small-budget non-commercial films with unusual themes like 'Kahaani', the woman-centric thriller, 'Vicky Donor' on sperm donation, and 'Ishaqzaade', rowdy romantic actioner, did exceptionally well by earning Rs 75 crore, Rs 45 crore and Rs 40 crore respectively. Biggies like 'Agneepath', 'Housefull 2' and 'Rowdy Rathore' too yielded gold at the box office by joining the Rs 100-crore club.
Three Khans - Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir - rule the roost and the second half was dominated by them. Their releases 'Ek Tha Tiger', 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' and 'Talaash' respectively became pots of gold. So did Saif Ali Khan-starrer 'Cocktail'.
Distributor Rajesh Thadani of Multimedia Combine told IANS: "The second half of 2012 was pretty good. 'The Khans' films have done pretty well. 'Ek Tha Tiger' collected around Rs 190 core, which is outstanding."
Eight films - 'Agneepath', 'Housefull 2', 'Rowdy Rathore', 'Ek Tha Tiger', 'Barfi!', 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan', 'Son Of Sardaar', and 'Bol Bachchan' - joined Rs 100 crore at the domestic box office.
Aamir's 'Talaash' has so far managed to amass around Rs 90 crore so far in the India territory and is expected to soon enter the Rs 100 crore zone.
Revealing the ballpark figure of the biggies, Thadani said that 'Agneepath' collected Rs 120 crore, 'Housefull 2' Rs 110 crore, and 'Rowdy Rathore' Rs 140 crore.
According to distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts, the estimated earning of 'Ek Tha Tiger' was around Rs 190 crore, of 'Son Of Sardaar' Rs 105 crore, of 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' Rs 121 crore, of 'Barfi!' Rs 110 crore and of 'Bol Bachchan' Rs 105 crore.
At the year-end, Salman Khan once again entertained with 'Dabangg 2', which has set the cash registers ringing by amassing Rs 60 crore over the weekend.
An industry source told IANS that total profit in 2012 comes to Rs 2,273 crore.
Nor were there too many box office disasters.
"Besides two films - 'Players' and 'Joker' - none of the films can be put into the disaster zone. These are the only two films which did very poor business," Ghai told IANS.
