2018 has come to an end and it won't be wrong to say that it was completely educational. This year has left us amused, angry, deliriously happy, proud, perturbed, shocked and deeply hurt as well. Yes, just imagine the range of emotions we went through in just one year. It has never been like that in any other year. Which means 2018 has dished out a variety that Bollywood was lacking since years now. So if there were big Khan films, there were also relatable and extremely entertaining small movies which left us in awe of the whole process of making good movies. And then there were enough shockers to make us go completely bonkers. We definitely are talking about the way the Khans have failed to please their fans. Then there are the bright new stars like Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh who shined! So here we are trying to understand what 2018 taught the industry...
January
Padmaavat had to go through a lot to secure a January 25 berth despite protests and controversies getting stronger by the day. But it released with key areas not showing the film. That couldn't, however, stop the film from becoming a huge hit. In fact, it crossed the Rs 100 crore mark even when many states were not screening the film. That says a lot about how much people were yearning to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic. Even when the film didn't have Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone romancing each other, Padmaavat went up to become the first Rs 300 crore film of 2018. The other film which achieved the same fate in that month was Salman Khan's Tiger Zinda Hai, a spillover from 2017.
February
February belonged to Black Panther. With the way Marvel Studios have been promoting its films in India, thanks to the rise in superhero geeks here, it wasn't surprising to see Black Panther doing so well. It was an unusual moment for Hollywood where a black guy became a superhero. Back in India, he clawed Aiyaary out of the way to declare himself as the reigning king of the box office. Then there was the bromantic comedy called Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. It marched towards the Rs 100 crore club, which no one saw coming! In fact, thanks to these films and Padmaavat, February became one of the best months of 2018.
March
After a good February, March nosedived with only Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 2 keeping things upbeat at the box office. Although that's quite a disappointing thing to happen, the fact that a young actor made all the difference in a month says a lot about the kind of fan following Tiger enjoys. Thanks to that, the film gave him his first seat in the Rs 100 crore club. BTW, Baaghi 3 is already on the anvil.
April
Apart from Avengers: Infinity Wars, April was quite a downer this year. The Marvel superhero film crushed everything in its wake and became the highest grossing Hollywood film in India. The film earned over Rs 200 crore in India alone!
May
May 2018 will be long remembered. It took three years for a women-led film to hit the Rs 100 crore mark. We are definitely talking about Alia Bhatt's Raazi. Last was Tanu Weds Manu Returns, which created history at the ticket windows. Even Kangana Ranaut gave away her Queen tag to Alia for her stupendous performance. In other obvious news, Hollywood again managed to slightly make a difference with Deadpool 2, although it lost steam soon enough. Then there were two senior actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor reuniting after 27 years in 102 Not Out and it was a Badummbaa time at the box office.
June
June has been the most interesting month of this year. Big films, big stars and in the midst of all that, a film led only by the females became the talk-of-the-town. The kind of movies that got consumed, appreciated and spoken about, can easily make this month one of the best ones this year. Veere Di Wedding's success shut down every naysayer that thought films with women in the lead doesn't perform at the box office. It was not even a niche social issue-driven film but an out-and-out entertainer. Salman Khan's favourite festival arrived with Race 3 but it couldn't do the business of any of its earlier releases. And then Sanju arrived at the theatres with Ranbir Kapoor in lead to give 2018 it's the biggest hit ever!
July
Who would have thought that Ranbir Kapoor's Sanju would become Rajkumar Hirani's biggest hit? Not Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots or PK but Sanju! July, thus, saw many such amusing twists and turns at the box office. That's what July was...full of surprises! While Sanju was a spillover from June, it wreaked havoc at the theatres for days. Janhvi Kapoor finally debuted in Bollywood with Dhadak, which became one of the highest grossing films with newcomers in the lead. Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible Fallout got a good reception as well.
August
We will personally be in love with this year's August as it gave us the best horror comedy India has ever seen - Stree. Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor's film kept soaring high from the moment it released. Everything about the film was so good. In fact, this was one of those rare films where each and every character just shined! What gives us immense joy is that there's sequel ready to go on the floors. BTW, Stree is one of the Rs 100 crore films of this year. Gold gave Akshay Kumar another Independence day hit.
September
September was all about learning lessons. Stree continued its winning streak, Sui Dhaaga was the only release of the month that fared well at the box office. So learnings from the month were content is the only thing that will take films places but you can't sell anything in the name of content. We are definitely talking about Batti Gul Meter Chalu.
October
October was Ayushmann Khurrana's month. He had two releases - Andhadhun and Badhaai Ho and both were hits. And guess what? Even Venom couldn't spoil a blind man's game when they both released together. That says a lot about what Andhadhun did to the audience because in recent times, whenever a Hollywood film released alongside a Hindi movie, the latter has always been overshadowed. But the list of flops did hurt the month's tally which includes LoveYatri, Namaste England, Jalebi, Helicopter Eela, Fry Day, 5 Weddings and Kashi - In Search of Ganga.
November
It was the month of a severe heartbreak! Something that shook Bollywood. It was the month when Thugs Of Hindostan released and flopped. The industry will take a lot of time to recover from that debacle. But 2.0's release and massive outcome helped the month heal.
December
This month too disappointed many. It started with Kedarnath which did pretty good and was followed by Aquaman which did decent business. But Zero's debacle made people really scared about the future of the Khans. All three of them had disasters this year. Simmba released on the last Friday of the year and saw good traction. Fortunately, the month is ending on a good note.
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