Diwali has been becoming an increasingly prestigious occasion for cinema, especially Hindi cinema, which can be called the real pan-Indian one.
Though many an older Hindi film must have released during this prime Indian festive season when most educational institutions also have vacations, with varying successes of course, the fetish for making a film a Diwali release really began after the stupendous success of the 1995 film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, quickly followed by Raja Hindustani (1996), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998.
With production becoming more streamlined and methodical, stakes spiraling and technology making waves, the release dates of films became a planned aspect rather than a ‘luck by chance’ affair it had always been. Yes, Yash Chopra (Dil To Pagal Hai) and Yash Johar (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) with Shah Rukh Khan did plan for a Diwali release, but after their co-releases, Bhai and Ghulam-E-Musthafa and Bade Miyan Chote Miyanmet with lukewarm fates, a certain competitiveness was born.
In 1999, Rajshri Productions-Salman Khan-Sooraj R. Barjatya-Raamlaxman, the quartet of Maine Pyar Kiya(the biggest hit of the 1980s decade) and Hum Aapke Hain Koun!… (ditto the 1990s) saw that every day was not a Sunday. Their third film, Hum Saath Saath Hain, was just a success in Diwali while co-release Shoolfell on its face.
The Millennium
By 2000, films still took a while to make, but once again, Yash Chopra decided to time Mohabbatein with festival mascot Shah Rukh Khan for the special festive season. Vidhu Vinod Chopra decided to compete with the new sensation Hrithik Roshan’s Mission Kashmir. Neither was a blockbuster, but the former did better, especially overseas.
A plethora of lackluster films came in the coming years, though dotted with big-ticket movies like Veer-Zaara, Aitraaz, All The Best, Son of Sardaar, Garam Masala, Don, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Happy New Year (all successes only, though Shah Rukh’s films here were money-spinners abroad), big star flops RA. One (this SRK film too did well abroad), Kyon Ki…, Jaan-E-Mann, Blue, Main Aur Mrs. Khanna and Action Replayy. The films in Bold font featured SRK.
Saawariya (2007), the Sanjay Leela Bhansali epic that crashed disastrously, featured Ranbir Kapoor in his debut, though Ranbir is a superstar today. Salman Khan had a cameo in it. While its co-release, Shah Rukh’s Om Shanti Om, went on to be a blockbuster.
The Last Decade (2015 to 2024)
2015: Salman had his first Diwali success, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo since Hum Saath Saath Hain and the film was a major hit. It was his reunion with Sooraj R. Barjatya and Rajshri Productions.
2016: Ranbir’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (featuring Shah Rukh in a cameo) crossed 100 crore but reportedly lost out in terms of the production cost—called Return on Investment (ROI). So did co-release, Shivaay, produced, directed, action-choreographed and also featuring Ajay Devgn, also netted over Rs. 100 crore domestically but failed to recover its production budget.
2017: Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar suffered a similar fate, though it reportedly did blockbuster business in China! Its co-release, Ajay Devgn’s Golmaal Again was a super-hit, starring Ajay Devgn heading an ensemble cast in the biggest success of this 4-film franchise.
2018: Aamir-Amitabh Bachchan’s Thugs of Hindostan, which reportedly opened with the highest first-day figures ever, capsized so badly that distributors had to be compensated!
2019: Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 4 also was the biggest hit in this comedy franchise.
2020: This was the year when no film could release in the theatres. Coming on OTT were Akshay’s Laxmii Bomb, Anurag Basu’s Ludo and Ajay Devgn’s production, Chhalaang, top-lined by Rajkummar Rao. Ludowas appreciated, Akshay’s film panned and Chhalaang was comme ci, comme ca.
2021: Audiences were still unsure if they could venture safely into movie-halls. By those standards, Sooryavanshi (with Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh in cameos) was a big hit indeed, even if its collections were a little higher than Rs. 150 crore.
2022: Both Akshay’s Ram Setu and Ajay Devgn’s Thank God with Sidharth Malhotra were washouts. The former was an archaeological mess connected with Lord Ram and Sita’s abduction, the latter a comic fantasy involving God in general.
2023: Salman Khan’s Tiger 3, with a blink-and-miss end-credits cameo by Hrithik Roshan as Kabir from the War franchise, failed to match up with Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai.
2024: The same fate befell Singham Again (Ajay with Akshay and Ranveer in cameos as Sooryavanshi and Simmba respectively, alongside Arjun Kapoor and Tiger Shroff and with Salman in a Hrithik-like end-credits cameo,), though its collections were high. This was the third film in this Rohit Shetty franchise.
Another third franchise film, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, a horror comedy like Golmaal Again, triumphed over it despite having no superstar. Featuring Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Tabu and Kartik Aaryan, the Anees Bazmee directorial was the winner in the Diwali stakes.
2025: Theoretically, with no superstar in the fray, this is not really a great Diwali. But Thamma is part of Dinesh Vijan’s Horror Comedy Universe (Stree, Bhediya, Munjya, Stree 2) and can well turn out to be a blockbuster. Facing it is the love story with Harshvardhan Rane and Sonam Bajwa—Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat. The producers are T-Series, who also were behind last year’s winner, Bhoo Bhulaiyaa 3.
At the risk of being criticized, I have not included mention of most leading ladies. In Hindi showbiz, sadly, in terms of their box-office magnetism, the biggest barely matter if content does not match up. The days of Hema Malini, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit-Nene are in the past.
Six Lessons to be Learnt:
- Diwali isn’t a foolproof guarantee of success.
- No star is bigger than the film, not even a superstar. The biggest of them have given the season’s blockbusters as well as calamities.
- Light, audience-friendly films have better chances than serious ones during this festive-cum-vacation season.
- Franchises tend to work a little better overall.
- Finally, things boil down to content (story and mainly scripts) rather than stars, though they consider this a prestige issue.
- And still, stars escalate their prices after every hit, which essentially is teamwork.
