#2018Recap: From defeat of the Khans to rise of Ranbir Kapoor to Salman’s supremacy – a look at the notable box office trends #2018Recap: From defeat of the Khans to rise of Ranbir Kapoor to Salman’s supremacy – a look at the notable box office trends Another year has ended but this one was different. It had too many twists and turns. Several films that were not expected to work or were to be average grossers became huge hits. On the other hand, the extremely big budgeted films bit the dust, sending shockwaves. In this Bollywood Hungama Special Feature, we take a look at ten interesting trends of the ticket window in 2018: 1. Defeat of the Khans All three Khans – Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan – had a release and all these film’s budgets were sky-high. Shockingly, all the films flopped big time. Salman’s Race 3 seemed shaky from the trailers and the star cast. Yet, it opened strongly but soon crashed when the word of mouth spread. Aamir Khan-starrer Thugs Of Hindostan meanwhile was the biggest shocker of the year. After all, Aamir is known to give qualitative content and enjoys immense trust among the audiences. Even the films with little logic like Dhoom 3 were great entertainers because of which they sustained. But Thugs Of Hindostan was devoid of logic and even humour and entertainment. It crashed badly after a historic first day. Meanwhile, Zero, starring Shah Rukh Khan, was the worst performer because it never opened big. And then the response came in that it’s bad. The film is currently struggling to cross the Rs. 100 crore mark. 2. Debacle of Zero and Thugs makes Race 3 collections seem respectable Despite the negative response and panning on social media, Race 3 actually had a decent run. This is especially when one compares it to Thugs Of Hindostan and Zero. The first four days of its release was the festive period and hence, collections were going to big. But even after festive period, the film didn’t crash out as badly as feared and even in Week 2; it remained steady at lower levels. Thugs Of Hindostan on the other hand crashed out during the festive weekend itself. After collecting Rs. 52.25 crore on Day 1, its eventual lifetime collections totalled Rs. 151.19 crore only! As for Zero, it had an opening of Rs. 20.14 crore and will collect around Rs. 98-100 crore in total. This trend speaks volumes of the superstardom of Salman Khan! 3. Race 3 more profitable than Badhaai Ho and here's why Race 3 led to losses for some people in the chain while the Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Badhaai Ho, made on a limited budget, became the surprise super hit, earning Rs. 137.59 crore. But when compared, Race 3 actually accumulated more money for its producers as it made its maximum collection in the first 2 weeks, when producers get more share than multiplexes. Badhaai Ho meanwhile earned Rs. 94.55 crore in the first 2 weeks and the balance was achieved in the subsequent weeks. And from that amount, the makers got a lesser share. 4. After numerous flops, Ranbir Kapoor surprisingly delivers highest grosser of the Year Ranbir Kapoor has had a huge fan following but since many years; he has had a tough time. Several of his films flopped with only Ae Dil Hai Mushkil being a somewhat decent performer. But this year, he shocked one and all as his much awaited film Sanju emerged as a blockbuster. It earned a mind-boggling Rs. 342.53 crore and is the only film this year to cross the Rs. 300 crore mark. What’s more, it is the even the highest grosser of the year and the first non-Khan film in 12 years to achieve this feat! The last time this happened was in 2006 when Dhoom 2 was the year’s biggest hit. 5. New actors setting new benchmarks Not just Ranbir Kapoor, but several other actors emerged as potential superstars of tomorrow as many films did more than expected. Ranveer Singh-Shahid Kapoor-Deepika Padukone starrer Padmaavat earned close to Rs. 300 crore despite not releasing in four major states. Apart from these actors and Ranbir Kapoor, actors like Kartik Aaryan, Tiger Shroff, Alia Bhatt, Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana gave some huge hits, most of which even earned Rs. 100 crore. And these films were not expected to do so well in the first place! 6. Extreme collections of films Raazi was the so-called women-centric film and hence was expected to maybe earn Rs. 60-70 crore. But trade and industry was surprised when it managed to reach till Rs. 123.84 crore mark. Stree, starring Shraddha Kapoor and ‘art cinema’ hero Rajkummar Rao also surprised by collecting Rs. 129.90 crore. Tiger Shroff meanwhile made it clear again that he’s here to rule as Baaghi 2 went on to become a blockbuster, crossing the Rs. 160 crore mark. Ayushmann Khurrana was hailed as the most victorious as he had 2 releases in October and both were successful. Andhadhun seemed like a niche multiplex film and yet collected Rs. 74.58 crore. Badhaai Ho looked like a winner from the trailer but yet, it was a pleasant surprise when it collected Rs. 137.59 crore. Lastly, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety netted Rs. 108.95 crore, spreading cheer and smiles everywhere. This showed that when audiences really liked a film, it can go anywhere. And when the audiences didn’t, then nothing can stop it from becoming a huge flop. The debacles of Race 3, Thugs Of Hindostan and Zero proved it. Films like Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se, Namaste England and Helicopter Eela couldn’t even reach the Rs. 10 crore mark despite having popular names with the first two being parts of popular franchises. 7. Slightly underwhelming year for Varun Dhawan Varun Dhawan is considered a bona fide superstar of tomorrow and rightfully so. But this year has not been huge for him. His first film, October, was offbeat and niche but considering the costs, it had to do slightly more than what it eventually collected – Rs. 39.06 crore. With Sui Dhaaga, expectations were huge and it turned out to be a ‘Hit’ for its makers. But one surely expected this lovely film to cross the Rs. 100 or Rs. 90 crore mark at least and not halt at Rs. 79.02 crore. 8. Rise of John Abraham John Abraham delivered underperformers in the form of Rocky Handsome, Dishoom and Force 2 in 2016. He had no release in 2017. This year he had two releases and both surpassed expectations. Parmanu released all of a sudden with little promotion. But the word of mouth was so positive that it collected Rs. 65.89 crore. His massy action film, Satyameva Jayate, opened with a bang at Rs. 19.50 crore and eventually earned Rs. 80.50 crore at the box office. The actor thus began to be seen in a new light this year and no wonder now he has so many releases lined up! 9. Directors finally get their due The actors take major credit for the success of their films. But 2018 was a period when even directors were recognized for their good work. Directors with fan following like Rajkumar Hirani, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rohit Shetty obviously got talked about for the super success of Sanju, Padmaavat and Simmba respectively. But even lesser known ones like Luv Ranjan (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety), Raj Kumar Gupta (Raid), Shoojit Sircar (October), Milap Zaveri (Satyameva Jayate), Meghna Gulzar (Raazi), Sriram Raghavan (Andhadhun) and Amit Sharma (Badhaai Ho) got recognized and were feted. 10. Festive period becomes even more lucrative 2018 showed the films releasing on holidays can do very, very well, even when content is not that great or average. Thugs Of Hindostan got some sort of respectable collections as it released post-Diwali holiday and managed to collect Rs. 50 crore on the first day. If it had released on a non-holiday, it would have been a bigger disaster. Satyameva Jayate also got the advantage as it released on Independence Day. Also Read: #2018Recap - A to Z of Bollywood in 2018 http://bit.ly/2ApUPCG