A quick update on the happenings in Bollywood in Quarter 1 of 2014

Quarter 1 of 2014 is over so its time to look back at the happenings of Q1 of 2014 in our Hindi film industry.

Business of Bollywood in January:

The year started with the release of the 3D version of the biggest hit of Indian cinema ever

"Sholay" but this time it failed to create the magic once again even with the 3D effects. 

Then the next movie to watch out for was "Dedh Ishqiya" which was a sort of comeback film of the legendary Madhuri Dixit, but alas neither she not the movie was able to create the kind of magic which was expected. As a result it turns out to be a flop. Same goes for Salman Khan's much hyped "Jai Ho" which failed to meet the expectations of the trade analyst. Although it did very well at the box office and managed to enter in the 100 crore club but it did not break any record and also got very poor reviews from the critics.Where the big stars failed to bring the audiences to the theaters, surprisingly a bunch of newcomers gave a surprise hit at the box office with "Yaariyaan". Although the critics washed out the film with their harsh comments but the college campus drama made a solid impact on the young cinegoers with some adult comedy and very much popular songs. Its box office collection was not that big but in comparison to the budget of the film it was a hit.

Business of Bollywood in February:

Keeping the romantic season in mind most of the mainstream movies released in February were romantic films. It started with very entertaining "Hasee Toh Phasee" which introduced

the fresh new pairing of Sidhharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra.Though the story was predictable enough but for a fresh screenplay and some lovable characters it entertains the audiences as well critics and becomes a profitable movie at the box office. Next comes Yashraaj film's much awaited retro drama "Gunday". It got a mixed reaction from the audiences but thanks to good publicity and hit music it manages to earn between 70-80 crores and becomes a hit. Then comes another highly awaited movie "Highway" which was the talk of the town for its unusual pairing as well as for its director Imtiaz Ali and also for the music of A.R.Rehman. And due to all this factors this movie got a good response from class appealing audiences and from critics too. At box office it was just average. On the last week of February comes another big mainstream movie "Shaadi Ke Side Effects" but unfortunately this movie's effect was not so good on the audience and box office. The leading pair tried too hard to save the film but its story and presentation were not engaging enough. Though it took a good opening due to pre-release hype but later its collection kept dropping.

Business of Bollywood in March:

In the month of March too many movies were released but none of them had big star or much hype. In fact no one had any kind of expectations with these movies but there were two surprise hits which managed to earn more than 50 crores at box office. The two movies were "Queen" and "Ragini MMS 2". Both these movies were as different as chalk and cheese but still there was one similarity that was both were hits due to the woman power. Where "Queen" conquered the box office with the solid performance from the leading lady Kangna Ranaut , on the other hand the horror movie "Ragini MMS 2" achieved good collection for the sex appeal of the leading lady Sunny Leone. This movie opens the door for a new genre of movies for Hindi cinema which is Horex(Horror + Sex).

Top Performances of Q1 2014
Actors-

• Arshad Warsi - Dedh Ishqiya
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui - Miss Lovely
• Randeep Hooda - Highway
• Sanjay Mishra - Ankhon Dekhi
• Satish Kaushik - Lakshmi

Actresses-

• Kangna Ranaut - Queen
• Alia Bhatt - Highway
• Parineeti Chopra - Hasee Toh Phasee
• Huma Qureishi - Dedh Ishqiya
• Lisa Hayden - Queen
• Seema Pahwa - Ankhon Dekhi

Top Songs of Q1 2014

• Baarish / Sunny Sunny / ABCD / Allah Yaariyaan - Yaariyan
• Zahenaseeb / Drama Queen - Hasee Toh Phasee
• Entriyaan - Gunday 
• Patakha Guddi / Maahi Ve - Highway
• London Thumakda / O Gujariyaa - Queen
• Baby Doll - Ragini MMS 2

Main Highlights of Q1 2014-

• "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" got most of the Awards for the Best Film of 2013.
• Farhan Akhtar got the Best Actor award for 2013 in most of the awards shows.
• Deepika Padukone received the award for Best Actress of 2013 at all award functions.
• Aamir Khan returns to TV with the second season of his  Non-Fiction show "Satymev Jayate"
• Aamir Khan's next movie "P.K." 's release postponed to the Christmas. Now it will clash at the box office with another big movie "Bombay velvet"starring Ranbir Kapoor.
• Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor left "Shudhhi", the much awaited movie from Karan Johar's production house.
• Sonam kapoor has been signed as the leading lady opposite Salman Khan in Sooraj Barjtya's next movie "Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo". It is scheduled to release on Deewali 2015.