The year is ending on a festive spirit. And releasing movies around that time is a great way to spread some Christmas cheer. At least, Aamir Khan's Dangal has single-handedly ensured that. We profile the Bollywood releases of the last decade during Christmas time. While some went on to become blockbusters, others disappeared from the box-office before we could finish saying Ho Ho Ho. Read on...
Year: 2005
Releases: Dosti, Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!, Bluffmaster
Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Riteish Deshmukh starrer Bluffmaster performed decent at the box-office and got good reviews. Released a week after that on 23rd December, Suneel Darshan's Dosti and Mahesh Manjrekar's Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi! failed to work at the box-office.
Year: 2006
Releases: Bhagam Bhag, Kabul Express
Kabir Khan's debut venture Kabul Express released on 15th December and did average business at the box-office. Starring Akshay Kumar and Govinda, Bhagam Bhag by Priyadarshan was released a week later - three days before Christmas. It was a box-office hit. The fact that it didn't have much competition also worked largely in its favour.
Year: 2007
Releases: Taare Zameen Par, Welcome
Co-created by Amole Gupte, Aamir Khan's directorial debut Taare Zameen Par (TZP) not only won the Filmfare Award for Best Film, but also won the prestigious National Award in 2008. Up against TZP, Anees Bazmee’s Welcome was one of the year's top money-spinners. So much so that, 2015 saw an equally huge sequel named Welcome Back.
Year: 2008
Releases: Ghajini, Jumbo, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi released two weeks before Christmas on 12th December and was a big hit. It also marked a successful start to Anushka Sharma's Bollywood career. Released on the day of Christmas, A.R. Murugadoss' Ghajini became the highest grossing movie of the year and the first film to enter the 100 crore club. Akshay Kumar, Rajpal Yadav, Lara Dutta starrer animated movie Jumbo stood no chance besides these biggies and was a disaster at the box-office.
Year: 2009
Releases: 3 Idiots, Yeh Sunday Kyun Aata Hai
Again, released on Christmas Day, 3 Idiots started breaking records from the word go. The film broke all box-office records in India and made Rs 202 crore. It had the highest opening day collections for a Bollywood film and it's also credited as the first entrant in the much coveted 200 crore club. The Kashmeera Shah starrer Yeh Sunday Kyun Aata Hai stood no chance beside this blockbuster.
Year: 2010
Releases: Tees Maar Khan, Toonpur Ka Superrhero, Isi Life Mein
Released on Christmas eve, Farah Khan’s third outing as a director, Tees Maar Khan had one of the best opening weekends of all time, before it fell face down at the box-office. The 3D animation movie Toonpur Ka Superrhero starring Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Sanjay Mishra and Tanuja and Rajshri Productions' Akshay Oberoi starrer Isi Life Mein were flops.
Year: 2011
Releases: Don 2: The King is Back
Farhan Akhtar's Don 2: The King is Back starring Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal, Boman Irani, Isha Koppikar did well at the BO and won many awards. It was one of the highest grossers of the year.
Year: 2012
Releases: Dabangg 2
Salman Khan is the king of box-office and this time wasn't any different. The hugely successful Dabangg's sequel, Dabangg 2 released four days before Christmas and went on to gross Rs. 158.5 crore.
Year: 2013
Releases: Dhoom 3, Jackpot, What the fish
Dhoom 3 managed to cross a whopping Rs 542 crore worldwide and Rs 284 crore nett at the domestic box-office. Other two movies - Kaizad Gustad's Jackpot starring Sachin Joshi and Sunny Leone and Dimple Kapadia starrer What the fish which released a week before, tanked at the box-office.
Year: 2014
Releases: PK, Ugly
Released on December 19, PK became the highest grossing Bollywood film and the first one to enter the 300 crore club. Anurag Kashyap's Ugly was critically appreciated but beside PK it couldn't show much magic at the box-office.
Year: 2015
Releases: Dilwale, Bajirao Mastani
Last Christmas it was a clash of the titans - Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon in Rohit Shetty’s Dilwale v/s Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Bajirao Mastani. Both movies did well at the BO but the latter swooped in all the major awards.
Year: 2016
Release: Dangal
Widely being dubbed as the best film of 2016, both by critics as well as the audience, Nitesh Tiwari's Dangal is creating magic at the box-office. The Aamir Khan starrer is running in packed theaters and seems ready to break all previous box-office records.