Varun Dhawan the top male star in the first half of 2017

The unthinkable has happened. The first half of the year had movie releases featuring four of the Top 5 established superstars in the industry – Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan. Only Aamir Khan didn’t have a movie release.

Yet, it’s Varun Dhawan, who hadn’t even made his debut at the beginning of the decade, who tops the first half of the year. His film ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ is not only the biggest hit of the year so far, but also the most profitable Hindi film. Alia Bhatt too made her presence felt and Dharma Productions’ is the banner behind two of the year’s most successful films – ‘Bahubali 2: The Conclusion’ and ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’.

Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’ was the first major release of the year and it remains one of the few films to get an ‘excellent’ initial at the box office.

Top 5 Movies that managed to make a mark, opening-wise:

  • Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (Hindi) – Bumper, record-breaking opening.
  • Raees – Excellent opening considering clash with another big film (Kaabil).
  • Badrinath Ki Dulhania – Good opening at multiplexes, excellent at mass centres.
  • Sachin: A Billion Dreams – For a docudrama, the opening can be categorised as excellent.
  • Half Girlfriend – The competition was intense, Half Girlfriend got a good initial, faltered second day onwards.

Salman’s Tubelight, Akshay’s Jolly LLB 2 and Hrithik’s Kaabil were amongst the films that opened below trade expectations.

Biggest hits of the year:

  • Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (Hindi) – All Time Blockbuster, incomparable to any other film.
  • Badrinath Ki Dulhania – One of the most profitable films for Dharma Productions in recent times, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt carried the film.
  • Hindi Medium – Surprise hit, went on to beat ‘Half Girlfriend’ and finish with lifetime business of 67 crore.
  • Jolly LLB 2 – It was the first clean-hit of the year. Akshay Kumar continued his consistent run and delivered yet another 100 crore grosser.
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