The Bollywood films that mainly dominated the box office this year belonged to the horror-comedy genre, in addition to massive star-driven action entertainers (Compiled by Gowri Murali)
Amar Kaushik’s horror-comedy tops the list, jointly produced by Maddock films and Jio Studios, with a worldwide gross amounting to Rs 874. 58 crore. The movie had a star-studded cast with Rajkumar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee and Aparshakti Khurana in key roles.
Yet another horror-comedy ranks second, with Rs 417.51 crore, directed by Aneez Bazmee, written by Aakash Kaushik, and produced by T-series and Cine1 Studies. In the third instalment of the franchise, Kartik Aaryan reprised his role as Rooh Baba, a ghostbuster, with the vengeful sprits, Manjulika (Vidya Balan) and Anjulika (Madhuri Dixit) thrown into the mix.
2024 seems to have been the golden year for franchises as 'Singham Again' emerges third, with a gross of Rs 389.64 crore, produced by Rohit Shetty, Ajay Devgn, and Jyoti Deshpande. Headlined by Ajay Devgn and half of Bollywood making an appearance, the action flick was written and directed by Rohit Shetty and was the fifth film of the director’s Cop Universe.
Sidhharth Anand’s third collaboration with Hrithik Roshan, produced by Viacom18 Studios and Marflix Pictures, takes the fourth spot, with a fictionalized retelling of the military events of 2019. The film had a dream cast with Hrithik Roshan as Patty and Deepika Padukone as Minal, and Karan Singh Grover and Anil Kapoor in important roles; and a worldwide gross of Rs 344.46 crore.
Ajay Devgn did in fact have a good box-office run in 2024, as Shaitaan, a horror thriller and adaptation of the 2023 Gujarati original Vash, ranks fifth with a significant Rs 211.06 crore. Directed by Vikas Bahl and bankrolled by Devgn Films, Jio Studios, and Panorama Studios, the film delivered exceptional performances by Janki Bodiwala, Jyothika, Madhavan, Angad Raaj, and Ajay Devgn
Rajesh A Krishnan’s directorial, written by Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri, touches down at six with a charming cabin crew—Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Kriti Sanon— minting Rs 157.08 crore in the process. The fun heist was produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and Anil Kapoor Films and Communications Network.
Amit Joshi and Aradhana Shah makes it to number seven with their sci-fi romantic comedy starring Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon. The film managed to collect Rs 133.64 crore, sealing another successful collaboration between Maddock Films and Jio Studios.
Munjya, yet another golden hit from Maddock Films’ horror-comedy universe ranks eighth, with Rs 132.13 crore. Directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, the film had Abhay Verma and Sharvari Wagh in the lead roles, with an interesting twist to the Maharashtrian folklore.
Anand Tiwari’s love triangle starring Tripti Dimri, Vicky Kaushal, and Ammy Virk is next on the list, written by Ishita Moitra and Tarun Dudeja. Produced by Amazon Prime, Dharma Productions and Leo Media Collective, the spiritual sequel to Good Newwz, managed to collect a total of Rs 115.74 crore.
The last addition to the list of box-office hits, is Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s film, headlined by Yami Gautam Dhar, also starring Priyamani, Raj Arjun and others. Produced by B62 Studios and Jio Studios, the political action thriller managed to collect Rs 110.57 crore.