Pathaan, Shehzada, Tiger 3, Selfie, Bholaa: What Bollywood has in store in 2023

In 2022, Bollywood came out of Covid-19 crisis and tried to stand up on its feet with films such as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Drishyam 2, Brahmastra, The Kashmir Files among others proving to be profitable. Even as the Boycott Bollywood brigade marched on social media, pan-India projects including KGF 2, RRR, and Kantara roared at the box office. Now the big question is: Will Bollywood be able to bounce back and come out even stronger in 2023? While the year has an impressive line-up with movies like Selfiee, Shehzada, Bholaa, Pathaan, Dunki, Sam Bahadur, Fighter, and Animal already making noise for all the right reasons, it’ll be interesting to see how they fare at the box office.

Talking of what may or may not work, members of the fraternity feel that 2023 will majorly be about Shah Rukh Khan with his three projects – Pathaan, Jawan and Dunki lined-up for release.

Trade expert Atul Mohan asserts, “All the eyes will be on SRK. Pathaan is going to be a complete package thanks to Siddharth Anand and there are rumours of Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff cameo appearances that have hyped the audience for good. Jawan is expected to rake-in moolah at the box-office given the record of director Atlee down south. And Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki too will be the high point of the year.”

Producer Vishal Rana adds in agreement, “It won’t be a surprise to see SRK taking all the limelight throughout the year. This probably one of the rare times that a superstar has so many big films coming out back-to-back within a span of few months.”

Among the Khans, Salman Khan, too, has Tiger 3 and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan coming out back-to-back and that’s expected to rake in moolah at the box office this year.

Looking back, trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “2022 taught us to never keep hopes pinned on any project. There were a lot of shocks and surprises last year. We are going to see the same in 2023 as well. A lot of interesting films are lined up. We will have to see which one does the trick but 2023 is packed with films with very interesting stars and equally interesting subjects.”

After a long time, 2023 will see almost every mainstream actor having multiple releases. From Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor to Kartik Aaryan and Sidharth Malhotra, every actor has something new to offer.

“Kartik Aaryan and Ranbir Kapoor are in that phase of their careers where they are doing the movies they love. Kartik is definitely going to be in the top 3 actors this year in terms of popularity,” adds Mohan.

As for Ranbir, given that he had a mixed 2022 with Shamshera being a flop and Brahmastra turning out to be fairly a hit, 2023 is going be to get crucial with Animal and Luv Ranjan’s Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. “You can expect both these films to hopefully cross 100-crore mark each at the box-office,” hopes Adarsh.

Another actor on whom the industry is placing all its bets are Akshay Kumar. “With Selfiee and OMG 2!, audiences can expect huge hits. Both are commercial films and will see Akshay in an entertaining manner, something which people love to see him in. And, his Bade Miyan Chote Miyan 2 is also expected to make waves this year,” says director Milap Zaveri.

He further adds that 2023 is going to be about masala entertainers. “Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada and Ajay Devgn’s Bholaa are going to be a mass dhamaka and hopefully will set the box office on fire. Then, Prabhas and Kriti Sanon’s Adipurush is definitely going to be one of the biggest highlights of 2023. Despite the film facing flak, the movie is going to open humongous,” says Zaveri.

Trade expert Komal Nahta mentions Ajay Devgn, and asserts that the actor will follow up the success of Drishyam 2 with Maidaan and Bholaa in 2023. He adds, “Besides the big-budget releases, Fukrey 3 is also expected to draw audiences into theatres. Since it’s the third film in the franchise, so it’ll be bigger and more ambitious.”