With the release of 'Naam Shabana' and 'Poorna', the first quarter of the year draws to an end—by and large, an eventful and successful beginning to 2017.
The year opened with 'Ok Jaanu', the remake of a Mani Ratnam film, that did not quite appeal to Hindi filmgoers, in spite of the music.
The indies 'Haraamkhor' and 'Coffee with D', got some attention because of their subjects and some controversy attached to them. The first big clash took place when 'Kaabil' and 'Raees' released on the same day, and the latter, starring Shah Rukh Khan took the lead at the box-office.
Hrithik Roshan’s performance as a blind man was appreciated more than the film itself.
Akshay Kumar carried on his winning streak with the legal thriller 'Jolly LLB 2'. 'The Ghazi Attack', a battle film set underwater did well on the thrills and patriotism. 'Hind Ka Napak Ko Jawab: MSG Lion Heart 2' also waved the Indian flag rather vigorously, without the same impact.
The first big disappointment of the year turned out to be the much-publicised 'Rangoon', which cut short Kangana Ranaut’s winning streak at the box-office—and she had been so confident that she called herself the third hero of the film, that co-starred Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor.
The thriller 'Commando 2' was a bit of a letdown, but not as bad as Govinda’s comeback dud, 'Aa Gaya Hero'. 'Machine', that was made to launch Mustafa Burmawalla, tanked too. At least Rajkummar Rao’s solo starrer 'Trapped' got good reviews, if not box-office numbers.
So the big hit of the season turned out to be 'Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya', coasting on the popularity of Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt among the young crowd. Anushka Sharma’s 'Phillauri' is reportedly attracting family audiences, but the surprise package was Swara Bhaskar starrer 'Anarkali of Aaraah', which won universally positive reviews.
Tapsee Pannu would probably like to erase 'Runningshaadi.com' from her filmography—it was such a flop; hopefully 'Naam Shabana' will help her get her post-Pink form back.