Box-office thrills, chills, and spills

A still from Fighter; (right) Dunki

The year 2023 in Bollywood has been nothing short of a roller coaster, with its fair share of twists and turns at the box office after the lull at the theatres for a few years. Shah Rukh Khan, the undeniable king of Bollywood, kicked off the year with a bang with Pathaan, which set the cash registers ringing. However, the year concluded on a slightly different note, with Dunki experiencing a dip in its earnings, marking its lowest single-day figure at Rs 9 crore.

Dunki opened with approximately Rs 30 crore when it was released on December 21. The film's director, Rajkumar Hirani, might not have replicated the thunderous opening of Pathaan, which raked in Rs 57 crore on its first day, and Jawan, which achieved Rs 75 crore in first-day collections. Despite the decline, it is expected to comfortably surpass Rs 200 crores during the weekend until Monday (January 1) in India. However, Dunki is drawing audiences internationally. It has surpassed the R300 crore milestone in global collections. And is expected to easily exceed the Rs 350 crore mark by Sunday.

Meanwhile, Salaar featuring Prabhas, which was released alongside Dunki, amassed an impressive Rs 90.7 crore on its opening day. Despite a domestic decline, the film crossed the Rs 500 crore gross worldwide, marking Prabhas' comeback after a dry spell at the box office since Baahubali 2 (2017). He is next set to appear in Kalki 2898 AD, alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.

Bidding adieu to 2023, the anticipation for 2024 is already building up as it aims to generate over Rs 2,000 crores at the box office, starting with Hrithik Roshan and Padukone-starrer Fighter. The Siddharth Anand directorial venture is expected to surpass the Rs 500 crore mark. Fighter is anticipated to mark Padukone's third consecutive entry into the coveted Rs 500 crore club, after Pathaan's Rs 543.22 crore and Jawan's Rs 640.42 crore. That's not all; the upcoming Eid release, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, is expected to be another winner. The Rs 300-crore venture holds the potential to become a Rs 500-crore grosser.

There is speculation that the third instalment of Rohit Shetty's Singham, starring Ajay Devgn, will not only cross the Rs 500 crore mark but may contribute to the cop-universe's overall earnings, reaching the impressive milestone of Rs 1,000 crore. Bollywood in 2024 is gearing up for a billion-dollar extravaganza.