Bollywood has always made sure that it has contributed enough to the jubilations of the Christmas season by releasing some big budget movies to coincide with the holiday. Let us take a look at some of the biggest releases that Bollywood has offered us around Christmas over the last few years.
2015: Bajirao Mastani and Dilwale
2015 saw the release of two big budget films over the Christmas weekend – the Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone starrer Bajirao Mastani that was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Dilwale which was the first collaboration between the star and Rohit Shetty. Although the historical epic had a slower start, it ultimately overtook the lifetime box office collections of Dilwale (Rs 148 crore) to gross ₹188 crore.
2016: Dangal
2016 witnessed not only the highest grossing Christmas release but also the highest grossing Bollywood movie ever in the form of the Aamir Khan starrer Dangal. Based on the Phogat sisters who are renowned names in the wrestling world, the sports drama won rave reviews and grossed a whopping Rs 538 crore in India.
2017: Tiger Zinda Hai
2017 brought with it for Christmas, the return of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif as RAW and ISI agents respectively, joining forces for Tiger Zinda Hai. A sequel to the 2012 hit Ek Tha Tiger, the movie grossed ₹339.25 crore.
2018: Simmba
2018 was Rohit Shetty’s chance for reclaiming his Christmas returns after Dilwale didn’t do business as expected 3 years back. And he hit the bull’s eye with the Ranveer Singh and Sara Ali Khan-starrer Simmba which went on to gross ₹240.31 crore.
2019: Good Newwz
2019 saw a Christmas release in the form of Good Newwz that starred Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani. The movie managed to do well and grossed ₹205.14 crore at the box office.
2020: Coolie No 1
2020 was marked the dreadful year for theaters due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Varun Dhawan-starrer Coolie No 1, however, streamed on an OTT platform on the Christmas weekend, but failed to impress the audience and received mostly negative reviews.
2021: 83 and Atrangi Re
This year the industry has pinned big hopes on its two Christmas releases – 83 in theatres and Atrangi Re on OTT. Kabir Khan directed 83 is a screen recreation of India’s maiden win at the Cricket World Cup. Atrangi Re is Anand La Rai’s romantic comedy starring Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush. It remains to be seen if these film manage to make Christmas a merry one for the movie business.
