Like any other year, 2019 was a roller-coaster ride filled with some significant, pleasantly surprising as well as astonishing events that took place and the manner in which some films performed at the box office. In a bid to understand this tumultuous and exciting year, we at Bollywood Hungama on a lighter note decided to redevelop the English alphabets from A-Z keeping in mind the important events of the year
A – Akshay Kumar and Ayushmann Khurrana
Both won hearts and also earned moolah with their films that were entertaining and yet thought-provoking. Coincidentally, both also played bald characters in Housefull 4 and Bala respectively. Not just that, both were even named Bala!
B – Batla House, Bala and Badla
All these films performed exceedingly well, way beyond their expectations.
C – Chhichhore
It is one of the biggest surprise hits of all times. It opened at just Rs. 7.32 crore and went on to collect Rs. 153.09 crore in its lifetime!
D – Dabangg 3
One of the most awaited films of the year opened to a tepid response due to not-so-huge buzz and anti CAA protests across the country. The other Salman Khan starrer, Bharat, too underperformed.
E – Eighty Three (’83)
The shoot of one of the most anticipated films of 2020 got over in 2019. It’s a movie that is highly awaited by one and all and is expected to break many box office records
F – Foreign films score huge
The biggest grosser of the year turned out to be the Hollywood biggie Avengers: Endgame. It is the only film of the year to have crossed the Rs. 300 crore mark. Other films like The Lion King, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Captain Marvel, Joker, Frozen 2 etc also did huge business, even more than some big Bollywood films!
G – Gully Boy
It brought a new wave, and lingo, in our cinema. Its prestige got a boost when it was selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars.
H – Hrithik Roshan
The superstar finally had a reason to cheer in terms of box office. Both his films, Super 30 and War, were huge grossers.
I – Inshallah
This Salman Khan and Alia Bhatt-starrer was to be directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and was launched with much fanfare. Sadly, it got shelved even before it could go on floors.
J – Judgementall Hai Kya
This Kangana Ranaut starrer was talked about more for its controversies than the film’s content or box office performance.
K – Kabir Singh
Despite being an adult film and starring Shahid Kapoor who’s not a superstar, this film rewrote all rules at the box office. So impressed were the audiences, particularly youth, by this film and it’s soundtrack that they went again and again to experience the magic. As a result, it crossed Rs. 278.24 crore, shocking even the most experienced of trade pundits!
L – Lack of political will of celebs
As the country was hit by one political controversy after another, a small section of stars voiced their opinions fearlessly on social media and even on offline platforms. But the bigger stars chose to look the other way, thereby earning the wrath of their fans. And there were some who happily posed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and later proclaimed they were ‘apolitical’.
M – Mass and comedy films get acceptance
Although new kind of films are being encouraged, a large population of moviegoers still don’t mind massy fares. Also, comedies remained a hot favourite. Despite scathing reviews, films like Total Dhamaal, Housefull 4, Saaho, Marjaavaan etc did very well, commercially.
N – Nolan
One of the most respected Hollywood directors, Christopher Nolan, shot for his upcoming film Tenet in Mumbai. The government, for the first time ever, put into place a single-window clearance. They themselves got the permissions from the police, fire brigade, various ministries etc. and got the whole process done in a week’s time, when it usually takes months! Nolan shot some key scenes in the city and finished the shoot before time.
O – OTT
The various OTT platforms continued to churn out series and films that became the talking point.
P – Period and political films
Period films like Kesari and Manikarnika – The Queen Of Jhansi were big hits commercially. But Panipat failed to set the box office on fire, despite a positive word of mouth, more or less. This year also saw political films that were released just before the elections like Uri: The Surgical Strike, The Accidental Prime Minister, Thackeray and The Tashkent Files. PM Narendra Modi tried to release right before the election time but was denied a release. It ultimately released on the day the results were declared. On the other hand, there was a film like Article 15 that wasn’t right-leaning. It received glowing reviews for its plot and performances.
Q – Quality content became priority, post Netflix’s Drive debacle
The giant streaming platform Netflix got slammed after it bought the long-delayed and poorly made flick Drive, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Jacqueline Fernandez. The trolling was so extreme that reports confirmed that the team of Netflix decided to only take qualitative films from now on.
R – Remixes
The recreated versions continued to thrive and most of the big films had at least one such song. A film like Luka Chuppi had five songs, all of which were remixes! Vishal Dadlani raised the maximum voice against this practice, especially because of not giving credit to original composers and singers.
S – Shah Rukh Khan
The superstar ended 2018 with a disaster thanks to his film Zero. Throughout the year, he kept the media and fans guessing as to which film he’s signing next. The year is about to get over and still, no one can say for sure who gets to direct him next.
T – Twitter and Instagram
Twitter continued to be used as a platform by celebs to troll each other or to get trolled by netizens. As for Instagram, more and more artists began to use it to show to the world what are they wearing. A few handles of photographers have more followers than that of actors and users flock to their pages to see what actors have been wearing at the gyms and airports, particularly.
U – Uri: The Surgical Strike
Just like Kabir Singh, this was another surprise that came out of nowhere and marched into the Rs. 200 crore mark. ‘Hows the Josh?’ became the national mantra.
V – Vicky Kaushal and Vishal Jethwa
Uri: The Surgical Strike’s lead Vicky Kaushal was already a popular name. But this action film made him a superstar of sorts. His upcoming films have suddenly become quite ‘garam’ thanks to him. Another actor who got noticed is Vishal Jethwa, the menacing villain of Mardaani 2, who played his part with perfection.
W – War
It is the biggest Bollywood grosser of 2019. Audiences had a ball witnessing Hrithik Roshan battling Tiger Shroff, their jugalbandi in ‘Jai Jai Shivshankar’ and of course, the big twist in the pre-climax!
X – e(x)treme collections of films
Films like Uri: The Surgical Strike, Total Dhamaal, Luka Chuppi, Badla, The Tashkent Files, Kabir Singh, Article 15, Super 30, Chhichhore, Dream Girl, Saaho, Housefull 4 and Mission Mangal performed very well at the box office, exceeding expectations. However films like Why Cheat India, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, Sonchiriya, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, Kalank, India's Most Wanted, Khandaani Shafakhana, The Zoya Factor, Laal Kaptaan, Satellite Shankar, The Body and Panipat had horrible collections.
Y – YouTube gets conquered by T-Series
Bhushan Kumar-owned T-Series won the battle of most-subscribed channel on YouTube as it defeated PewDiePie, run by Felix Kjellberg. The battle got ugly as Felix resorted to racist slurs in a bit to outdo T-Series. It was an online battle that became known all over the world.
Z – Zaira Wasim
On June 29, talented actor Zaira Wasim announced that she’s quitting films permanently. It led to polarized views; especially since she reasoned that she’s taking the big step as her ‘relationship with her religion was threatened’. She didn’t even promote her film The Sky Is Pink that released on October 11.
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