While 2013 has had its fair share of duds, it also proved to be a fairly good year for audiences and people within the industry. Since the year is coming to a close, we can’t help but take a look back at the biggest highlights of this year, and what we believe emerged as the biggest successes over the past twelve months. After all, what better way to end the year than by celebrating all that was good about our industry this year? 🙂 Check out our list and let us know whether you think anything else deserves to be added to it!
1. Deepika Padukone
When we asked you at the end of last year which leading lady would come out on top in 2013, most of you voted for Deepika Padukone – and turns out you were right. She whizzed ahead of all the competition this year, securing not only the most number of hit films, but also the most critical praise. Each of her films did very well this year in terms of the box office – Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express and Ram Leela. All four of them are amongst the top 10 grossing films this year, while 3 – all except Race 2 – entered the 100 crore club.
Critically, too, many reviewers have praised her for her performances. Anupama Chopra even said on The Front Row that Deepika is increasingly being considered “the best thing” about the recent films she has done. In fact, many people only started taking Deepika seriously post Cocktail last year, which makes it even better that she followed up that film with a slew of great performances. Now, she is definitely considered amongst the top heroines in Bollywood, if not the top.
2. The 200 crore club
When 3 Idiots released back in 2009, it set an unprecedented record – it was the first Bollywood film to create and enter the 200 crore club. Since then, all eyes have been on which film will enter the 200 crore club and overtake 3 Idiots. This year, it finally happened: Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika’s Chennai Express not only did business of over 200 crores, but it did enough to break the record previously held by 3 Idiots.
A few months later, Krrish 3 released, and there were reports that the film managed to beat the record of even Chennai Express. However, this is, as of yet, unclear – some trade analysts report the figure to be around 244 crores (which would mean it is the highest grossing film), while others peg it at around 180 crores (putting it third behind Chennai Express and 3 Idiots). There has been a lot of drama surrounding these figures, with many people claiming that 244 crores is an inaccurate, fudged figure.
3. Small films Find Big Success
Some big films may have set the cash registers ringing, but this year, smaller films made their mark as well. Films like Ship of Theseus and The Lunchbox received backing by mainstream industry people (Kiran Rao and Karan Johar respectively) and was critically acclaimed not only in the festival circuit, but within India as well.
Even other Hindi films like Fukrey, Shuddh Desi Romance and Kai Po Che were relatively small, but still made their mark with the audiences and at the box office. Bigger production houses, such as UTV and Excel Entertainment, are increasingly backing smaller films, which is always heartening to see.
4. Aashiqui 2 music lives up to its name
When Aashiqui 2 was first releasing, everyone had one question on their minds: would the music live up to the original? The first Aashiqui had a soundtrack that was immensely popular, so the pressure was on to make an equally good – or better – soundtrack for the second film. The good news is, they managed to do just that. The music was all the rage when it first came out – especially Tum Hi Ho – and the hype is yet to die down. It’s been many months since everyone first heard the music, but it’s still a soundtrack that’s played regularly, and we expect this to remain that way for some time.
5. new Directors earn their stripes
2013 saw the year where several new directors released their second films. Directors like Ayan Mukerji (Wake Up Sid), Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan), Neeraj Pandey (A Wednesday) and Abhishek Kapoor (Rock On!!) were lauded for their first films, and this year, they all released their second films. Ayan had Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Vikramaditya had Lootera, Neeraj had Special 26 and Abhishek had Kai Po Che. All of these are are extremely different movies, but there is one thing in common – with all of them, the directors proved that their first films were not just flukes, and they’re here to stay.
What else would you consider amongst the biggest successes of 2013? Would you say that it was a good year for Bollywood? Karan Johar thinks so, at least!