Trade experts hail 2023 as the BESTEST year for Bollywood; praise Shah Rukh Khan for his stunning comeback: “You can’t write SRK, Salman and Aamir off. When they strike back, it’ll be so huge that the cynics will not even know what has hit them”

By Fenil Seta -

December 30, 2023 - 7:05 PM IST

Last year, when we spoke to the trade at this time to ask them how 2022 was, the mood was sombre. This time, the trade experts excitedly shared their views about the year gone by. It was hailed as exceptional and also the best in a long time.

Trade experts hail 2023 as the BESTEST year for Bollywood; praise Shah Rukh Khan for his stunning comeback: “You can’t write SRK, Salman and Aamir off. When they strike back, it’ll be so huge that the cynics will not even know what has hit them”

Trade guru Komal Nahta said, “2023 was exceptional. Out of the five biggest Hindi hits of Indian cinema ever, 4 have released this year. The only exception was Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion, which was released in 2017. Never has this happened in the past. This is enough proof that 2023 has been the bestest ever year”

Film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi agreed, “2023 definitely was a very interesting year and it redefined the potential of the Hindi cinema market in some sense. We breached the Rs. 500 crore mark as many as 4 times with Pathaan, Gadar 2, Jawan and Animal. It was great, especially since business had a slump in 2022.”

Raj Bansal, the owner of Entertainment Paradise in Jaipur, proudly said, “2023 was one of the best years. In fact, if I recollect correctly, it was the biggest in terms of box office. I have been saying for the last one year that 2023 will be the golden year for Indian cinema and I was so correct!”

Komal Nahta added, “Smaller films also did well. The Kerala Story was a blockbuster. Satyaprem Ki Katha, 12th Fail, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani etc. were also successful. But 4 topmost blockbusters out of 5 in a year is a record. I don’t think it’ll ever be broken in the next 5 to 10 years.”

Akshaye Rathi, however, emphasized, “Barring a few exceptions like The Kerala Story, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke and Sam Bahadur, we missed the success of the mid-segment movies. To sustain as an industry more healthily, we need these tentpole films to do Rs. 500 crore business every now and then. But amid these grossers, we need the small and mid-sized films to also do well to keep the scoreboard ticking. I really hope in the coming year these kinds of films can do respectable business.”

The Khans are here to stay

2023 began with a bang as Shah Rukh Khan made a stunning comeback with Pathaan. A certain section of the audience, who felt his time was up, had to eat their words. Komal Nahta opined, “It proved that never say never in this industry. Legends don’t die so easily.”

He also said that even Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, whose track record has gotten dented, can bounce back too. “You can’t write them off. When they strike back, it’ll be so huge that the cynics will not even know what has hit them!” said Komal Nahta.

Raj Bansal added, “Shah Rukh Khan took a break for 4 years as he was not sure what he should make. He took time and he came back with a vengeance. With these 2 films, he proved himself. Unfortunately, the third film didn’t do that well. It’s not a bad film but if you compare it to Pathaan and Jawan, Dunki doesn’t match their box office success. Nevertheless, Shah Rukh Khan is definitely here to stay.”

He continued, “I still maintain that Salman Khan is the number 1 actor. Another actor who’s emerged as a star from the younger generation is Ranbir Kapoor.” The latter earned the tag of the ‘superstar’ with Animal.

Akshaye Rathi explained, “Stardom built over three decades cannot be written off because of a couple of films not doing well. Salman Khan had ten flops in a row before Wanted (2009). After that, there has been no looking back. The fact is that there are millions of people in our country and overseas who love Shah Rukh Khan and they are a potential audience. What failed was not Shah Rukh Khan’s stardom. What failed was the content of those films. The minute he was back with more entertaining and engaging content with larger intrinsic value, we saw what happened with Pathaan and Jawan. It’s the case with each one of these stars who built their stardom over such a long period such as Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan.”

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