As part of a series of Asian market overviews in the run-up to Filmart, Streamlined is looking at the current box office situation in India and Japan, along with the upcoming release schedule for local films in both markets. Streamlined’s previous edition, which focused on Korea, can be found here. Of course, release schedules for most Asian territories are not set in stone, especially in India. But the following should give a good overview of what to expect.
INDIA: North & South Fight For Box Office Dominance
Hindi-language cinema bounced back in 2023 after being eclipsed by South Indian films, mostly Telugu-language, in 2022. This year also got off to a strong start for the Hindi industry, popularly known as Bollywood, with the January 25 release of Indian Air Force drama Fighter, produced by Viacom18 and Marflix, which is currently the highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year with $23.6m (Rs1.96bn). Directed by Siddharth Anand, who delivered last year’s hit Pathaan, the film stars Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor.
Meanwhile, Jio Studios and B62 Studios’ political action film Article 370, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, has just grossed $4m (Rs347m) on its opening weekend. The Indian Express describes the film thus: “Mixing facts with fiction, and some convenient untruths, Article 370 presents the government of the day’s scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir as a masterclass in State craft.”
So it appears that war stories and propaganda are doing well at the Indian box office, but not so great internationally – both Fighter and Article 370 have reportedly been banned in key Gulf markets due to their nationalistic (read anti-Muslim) messaging.
Looking ahead, there will be a welcome break from the bombast with Kiran Rao’s female empowerment story, Lost Ladies (aka Laapataa Ladies, PICTURED ABOVE), which Jio Studios is releasing on March 1. Another critically acclaimed filmmaker, Dibakar Banerjee, has his long-awaited sequel Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2, set for release through Balaji Telefilms on April 26.
Before that, Dharma Productions’ hijack thriller Yodha, starring Sidharth Malhotra, is scheduled for March 15, while the key Eid holiday box office period (April 9-10) will see the release of Pooja Entertainment’s action thriller Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff; along with Zee Studios’ sports drama Maidaan, directed by Amit Sharma and starring Ajay Devgn.
May will see the release of the first big “pan-Indian” film of the year – Vyjayanthi Movies’ sci-fi epic Kalki 2898 AD (aka Project K) directed by Nag Ashwin and starring…
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