Bollywood Box Office Verdict-Story as powerful as stars-MDKM

New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) The
year enjoyed its big-ticket
movies like "Chennai Express"
and "Krrish 3" at the Bollywood
box office, but it also welcomed
small wonders. High on content
and performances, acclaimed
films like "Ship Of Theseus" and
"The Lunchbox" not only
exhibited the zest and zeal of
filmmakers, but also showed
their fearlessness in trying new
genres and unique treatments.
IANS picks up 10 such
refreshing small wonders from
2013, which were not gold
spinners, but whetted the
appetite of viewers looking for
meaningful content:
"ABCD: AnyBody Can Dance": The
3D dance film "ABCD" not only
introduced the Indian audiences
to a new genre but also gave
budding choreographers a
platform to display their skills.
Directed by choreographer
Remo D'Souza, it starred a host
of choreographers including big
names like Prabhudheva and
Ganesh Acharya along with
upcoming ones. Even though the
film, made on an approximately
Rs.12 crore budget, received a
lukewarm response, it garnered
Rs.19.5 crore ($3.127 million) in
its opening weekend and
wowed everyone with its dance
sequences.
"Kai Po Che": Based on
friendship, "Kai Po Che" won
many hearts. The Abhishek
Kapoor-directorial saw the big
screen debut of TV actors
Sushant Singh Rajput and Amit
Sadh as best friends. Rajkumar
Rao also featured as the third
friend. Not only the film, a big
screen adaptation of Chetan
Bhagat's "The 3 Mistakes of My
Life", was loved by many, it
helped freshers in getting good
projects. The film grossed
approximately Rs.43.50 crore in
the domestic market and its
overseas collection was Rs.12
crore.
"Mere Dad Ki Maruti": A laugh
riot, "Mere Dad Ki Maruti" was a
light-hearted refreshing comedy
revolving around the bantering
between a father and his son.
Although Saqib Saleem as the
son and Ram Kapoor as the dad
entertained the viewers, its box
office business wasn't
satisfactory. Those who saw the
film however appreciated the
dialogues.
"Aashiqui 2": Sequels are a
gamble as they often fail to
match up to the original, but
"Aashiqui 2" turned out to be an
exception. The love story,
featuring Aditya Roy Kapur and
Shraddha Kapoor, was lapped
up by the masses and collected
approximately Rs.78 crore at the
box office. Directed by Mohit
Suri, the film's music was a big
hit as well.
"Fukrey": Farhan Akhtar and
Ritesh Sidhwani's small budget
production "Fukrey" proved that
hero-heroine-based love stories
are not the only ones that click
at the box office. Directed by
Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, it did a
business of over Rs.30 crore
with names like Richa Chaddha,
Vishakha Singh, Pulkit Samrat
and Priya Anand carrying the
film on their shoulders.
"Bhaag Milkha Bhaag": A biopic
on legendary athlete Milkha
Singh, sports-based "Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag" hit the bull's eye
at the box office. For the viewers
it was a delight to watch well-
trained Farhan Akhtar as the
Flying Sikh on the big screen.
Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash
Mehra, it also had stellar
performances by Sonam Kapoor
and Divya Dutta. It reaped gold
at the box office and crossed the
Rs.100 crore mark.
"Madras Cafe": It was not a
typical entertainer. Set against
the backdrop of the Sri Lankan
civil war, the film was a mix of
fact and fiction. It's not easy to
involve movie lovers in such a
serious drama, but Shoojit Sircar
nailed it with "Madras Cafe". The
political thriller, starring John
Abraham, was made on a
budget of less than Rs.10 crore
buted collect Rs.24 crore in the
first four days of its release itself.
"Ship Of Theseus": Debutant
director Anand Gandhi struck
the right chord with his
thought-provoking "Ship Of
Theseus", made on a shoestring
budget of Rs.2.5 crore.
Filmmaker Kiran Rao released
the poignant and original drama
in collaboration with UTV Motion
Pictures in select few cities, but
the film that revolved around an
experimental photographer, an
ailing monk and a stock broker,
enjoyed a satisfactory run in
cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi,
Bangalore and Kolkata.
"Shahid": Based on the life of
slain human rights activist and
lawyer Shahid Azmi, Hansal
Mehta-directed critically
acclaimed "Shahid", starring
Rajkumar Rao in the title role,
received ample support from the
film industry and also enjoyed a
good run at the box office. It
collected Rs.2.05 crore in its
opening weekend.
"The Lunchbox": After being
appreciated at various
international film festivals, "The
Lunchbox" proved its mettle on
the domestic front too. An
unconventional love story of a
married woman, who is
unsatisfied with her life, and an
elderly man, who lost his wife
many years back, collected
approximately Rs.1.25 crore on
its opening day. If viewers and
critics raved about director
Ritesh Batra's film with universal
appeal, they were equally
overwhelmed by Irrfan,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and
Nimrat Kaur's performances in
the medium budget movie.