Hindi cinema in 2023: Bollywood unleashed its animal spirits, embraced subversion while battling censorship

Rising from the lows of the pandemic period, the Hindi film industry rediscovered its blockbuster form in 2023 with four films scoring more than 500 crores at the box office. The year offered varied fare to an audience seeking more colour and charisma in their entertainment plate, after being on an OTT diet where dark delicacies often dominate the menu. Cynics who feared that Bollywood would open more files of hatred were pleasantly surprised to find plenty of subversion in the mainstream movies and streaming shows. Music seeped into the narratives all over again. In Jubilee, a series woven around the golden period of the industry, it drove the narrative, but when melodies lent an extra layer to spy thrillers like Khufiya and Pathaan and more importantly to the unbridled violence of Animal, they became noteworthy.

Let’s rewind to the sights and sounds of a year where stars shone bright but lesser-celebrated actors were also showered with applause, and filmmakers found a way to provoke and protest amidst the raging propaganda.

Alphas thrive; Alphettes survive

After a spree of female-centric films, the Alpha male made a muddled comeback to the big screen, but raked in the moolah. When both Sunny and Bobby Deol score at the box office withGadar 2 and Animal, it doesn’t take much to decipher that the audience wants a double dose of masculinity in their movies. This is the year where both Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor shed their romantic image to embrace action and aggression in Jawan and Animal. Those who found Animal breaking the mould with its misogynistic and sexist tinge, forgot that the tone was set by the Netflix series Rana Naidu and Ranbir himself in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar earlier in the year.

Alphettes also got an opportunity to flex their muscles in Thank You For Coming, Dhak Dhak, Kathal, Mrs Undercover, Tejas, Fukrey 3, Ghoomer, Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo, Dahaad and Aakhri Sach, but without much commercial or critical success.

It was Sumit Saxena’s Kaalkoot that stood out for dealing with the psyche of the so-called Alphas and Alphettes in the crime thriller based around acid attacks.

When subversion scored over propaganda

When The Kashmir Files was honoured at the National Film Awards as the Best Film on National Integration, and The Kerala Story scored big at the box office, it seemed the age of post-truth had truly arrived in Hindi cinema. But then the year saw a series of films that contravened the status quo with some sharp socio-political commentary on the state of affairs. While Pathaan, Jawan, OMG 2 and The Great Indian Family smartly wrapped subversion as mass entertainment, Bheed and Afwaah were blunt in their anti-establishment tone. Rajkumar Santoshi provided Godse a platform to have his say in Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh. Towards the end of the year, Anurag Kashyap, the flag-bearer of subversion, struck a middle path when he talked of engaging with films like The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story for “canceling people is more problematic.”

New north-south combo

After failing to recreate the magic of South Indian masala with remakes such as Selfiee, Shehzada, Bholaa, and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan biting the dust, Bollywood conjured up its interpretation of pan-Indian phenomenon where a Hindi film star joins hands with a young director from the south to deliver to the audience what they want. Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor have surrendered themselves to the idea and the idiom of Atlee and Sandeep Reddy Vanga. South Indian stars are also treading the Hindi landscape with an open mind. Daggubati Venkatesh impressed with his rogue avatar in RanaNaidu and Vijay Sethupathi was excellent in Farzi and Jawan.

Multi-pronged censorship

The year also saw versions of mob, self, and official censorship. The crowd on social media forced the makers of Adipurush to apologise for not being able to live up to its expectations. The OTT platforms including Netflix indulged in self-censorship so that they were not dragged to court by a fringe, and the Central Board of Film Certification granted an A certificate to OMG 2, a film on sex education made for teenagers. In the case of Oppenheimer, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) sought an explanation from the CBFC for passing an ‘objectionable’ scene that created outrage on social media. However, in the case of Pathaan, the colourful controversy around ‘Besharam Rang’ worked in favour of the film.

Also Read: Netflix bows to censorship, stops streaming uncut Indian films globally

Shah Rukh Khan shines, Manoj Bajpayee raises the bar

Shah Rukh Khan made a stunning comeback with power-packed performances in Pathaan and Jawan. Be it as a spy out to mend broken boundaries or as a father-son duo annihilating corruption, the actor’s mass vehicles were fuelled by a potent concoction of allegorical references and socio-political realities. He played characters whose condition and conviction bear striking similarities to recent events in his life. With Dunki waiting in the wings, the year truly belonged to SRK. But in the face of the charisma of the star, let’s not forget the resilience of a method actor. The year equally belonged to Manoj Bajpayee who also delivered three superlative yet distinctive performances in Joram, Gulmohar, and Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai.

Reality bites

Narratives inspired by lesser-known real-life incidents, less-celebrated personalities, and the deepening sociopolitical divide generated a lot of interest throughout the year. Shiv Rawail’s The Railway Men, Prashant Nair’s Trial by Fire, Hansal Mehta’s Scoop and Faraaz, and Vikramaditya Motwane’s Jubilee stood out for being true to the period and generating the emotional pull of some of the most defining events of our times.

The Bangladesh War spawned many projects in its 50th year, but only Meghna Gulzar ably refreshed the memories of the period with a tribute to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Sam Bahadur. Apoorv Singh Karki brought to life the little-known lawyer who took on a powerful godman in Sirf Ek Bandaa Kafi Hai and Vidhu Vinod Chopra returned after a while to tell the inspirational tale of a ‘12th Fail’ who became an IPS officer. Ashima Chibber’s Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, Tinu Suresh Deasi’s Mission Raniganj and Raja Krishna Menon’s Pippa had plenty of positives to write home about, but Shyam Benegal’s Mujib: The Making of a Nation, Abhimanyu Singh’s Taj: Divided By Blood and Smriti Mundhra’s The Romantics could not match the hype.

Cinema Marte Dam Tak proved to be the oddball that impressed with its engaging profiling of the masters of seedy cinema. Caste discrimination was at the core of police procedural Reema Kagti’s Dahaad. In the second helping of Lust Stories, Konkona Sensharma’s segment, The Mirror, reflected the class divide that exists even in carnal pleasures and made a stinging comment and in the second season of Made In Heaven, we got to celebrate a Dalit wedding in a minor but significant step towards accepting social diversity on screen. .

Stories of survival

Environmental concerns, tribal issues, and animal welfare inspired film writers in a big way and it led to some engrossing narratives that commented on lopsided development without getting didactic. Devashish Makhija’s Joram and Sameer Saxena’s Kala Paani stood out for the way they gave respect and empathy to tribals. So did Nila Madhab Panda’s cli-fi series The Jengaburu Curse. Early in the year, Victor Mukherjee’s Lakadbaggha put the spotlight on illegal animal trade through an action-thriller, and towards the end, teenagers joined hands to save trees in Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies.

Woke romances

The year saw several films where romance was overtly garnished with bumper sticker messaging reducing screenplays to essays reeking of self-awareness. It partly worked in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and Sameer Vidwans’ Satyaprem Ki Katha but fell flat in Nitish Tiwari’s much-hyped Bawaal, and got addled in Anurag Kashyap’s Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat. The film where the lessons and love story felt organic for the most part was Laxman Utekar’s Zara Hatke Zara Bachke.

Also Read | Love and progressiveness: Are Bollywood romances losing their verve?

Spooks and mysteries

Hindi cinema’s fascination for casting stars as undercover agents continued in 2023 with Pathaan, The Night Manager, and Tiger 3 leading the way while Mission Majnu, IB71, and The Freelancer lost steam after promising starts. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Khufiya truly set the mood for a knotty spy thriller with his old and new muses Tabu and Wamiqa Gabbi before limping into a void. It was preceded by his Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valley where again the setting sucked us into an Agatha Christie space, but the results were not as wholesome. No such issue with Sujoy Ghosh’s Jaane Jaan that marked Kareena Kapoor Khan’s streaming debut but it was the boys, Jaideep Ahlawat and Vijay Varma, who garnered equal if not more attention.

Noteworthy performances

The streaming space has emerged as an estuary of acting talent and this year Suvinder Vicky emerged as the new fish with a moving performance in Kohrra. There is a new set of actors who are blending the demands of the popular and the perceptive with conviction. Vicky Kaushal and Vijay Varma added substance to their remarkable repertoire with three remarkable performances each. Wamiqa Gabbi had a great year too with eye-catching performances in Jubilee, Khufiya, and Charlie Chopra.

Rajshri Deshpande and Amruta Subhash once again proved their mettle in Trial By Fire and Lust Stories. Among the stars, Kareena Kapoor reached out to a new audience with a de-glam look without nail extensions in Jaane Jaan, Sushmita Sen carried forward the good work of Aarya in Taali, and Sonakshi Sinha was not bad in uniform in Dahaad.

Anil Kapoor proved that old is very much gold with masterly performances in Animal and The Night Manager and and Kay Kay Menon continued to surprise with his skillset in The Railway Men and Bambai Meri Jaan. Dimple Kapadia impressed with her sassy turns in Pathaan and Saas, Bahu and Flamingo. So did Ratna Pathak Shah in Dhak Dhak and Deepti Naval aced the part of a flawed mother struggling with dementia in Goldfish.

Among the discoveries, Babil Khan was impressive in The Railway Men and Agastya Nanda and Khushi Kapoor made a promising start with The Archies but it was Vikrant Massey whose immersive performance in 12th Failleft nothing to be desired.