BuzzFix | SRK, Sunny Deol, Karan Johar: How 2023 Brought Bollywood Back on Track After 'Boycott'

Audiences have finally returned to theatres. The year 2020 did not only bring world to a standstill but also put a halt on Bollywood. The horrifying pandemic aftereffects at theatres are now finally waning away, or that’s how it seems to be.

However, we did not reach here easily. Even when Akshay Kumar’s ‘Sooryavanshi’ brought back people in theatres on Diwali 2021, the follow-through wasn’t spectacular. This was followed up by disasters and flops in the coming weeks. The year 2022 did not turn out to be much encouraging either. Aamir Khan’s much-awaited film ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ could not rake in big bucks despite the good word of mouth around.

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The year 2023 began with hope for Bollywood, especially with the release of Shah Rukh Khan’s much awaited film ‘Pathaan.’ The movie also starred Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. It not only turned around the cinema’s lost fate but also became a turnaround film for the Yash Raj banner crossing a revenue of over Rs 1000 crores.

The SRK starrer film was followed by KJo’s venture. Audiences finally witnessed the magic of Karan Johar directorial, something that has been amiss for a while, with his family drama ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ this July. The movie is doing decently well at the box-office but most importantly, the cinema brought back the families together. Whether it was Dharmendra-Shabana Azmi’s wholesome chemistry or Ranveer Singh’s sheer screen presence, KJo proved that he’s still

Before Bollywood could actually embark on this path, there were instances where Salman Khan had failed with releases like ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai and Antim.’ Aamir Khan’s ‘Laal Singh Chandha’ also met a similar fate. The film, which was the Hindi remake of Tom Hanks’s 1994 classic, Forrest Gump, did not only fail to attract the audience but they also boycotted it with several campaigns running against it. ‘#BoycottLaalSinghChaddha’ trended on ‘X’ in India. The reason for this brutality included the alleged disrespect of Hindu gods and culture.

This was not the only film that had to face the ‘boycott trend’. Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer ‘Brahmastra’ also faced boycott calls due to the actress’ comments on people’s anger against Bollywood. The actress, in a statement said, “I can’t keep defending myself verbally. And if you don’t like me, don’t watch me. That’s it. I can’t do anything about it.”

Akshay Kumar’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’ was also “boycotted” due to its focus on a complex topic like ‘Dowry.’ Vijay Deverakonda’s ‘Liger’ and Taapsee Pannu’s ‘Dobaaraa’ were another few movies that became the target of the ‘Boycott trend.’

However, with the release of Sunny Deol’s much-awaited ‘Gadar 2,’ the benchmark has been set high once again. The movie has become the second-highest opener of the year since SRK’s Pathaan. ‘Gadar 2’ clashed with Akshay Kumar’s ‘OMG 2.’ With overcrowded theatres and unending enthusiasm from the audience, the movie has gathered decent reviews from the critics as well.

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If you think this is it then you are wrong, Bollywood has a lot in store for the upcoming months with two of SRK’s movies. Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal’ also happens to be a much awaited film. With this, we can finally say that the good times are finally rolling as Bollywood is back in action.