How Hindi movie stars fared in 2023

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Every year brings its own crop of success and failure, fine and fateful Fridays, and 2023 was no different. Here’s looking at how the big names fared in this year at the all-important box-office.

The A-List:

Ajay Devgn: He had no hit, as Bholaa, which he also produced and directed, underperformed. He produced the modestly-acclaimed OTT series, The Trial, featuring wife Kajol.

Akshay Kumar: His face-saver was his home production, OMG2, the second movie in his successful franchise as producer. His excellent Mission Raniganj did not find takers, and the same was the case with Selfiee.

Alia Bhatt: The lady gave one of the most accomplished performances of the year in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, continuing her solid hit-streak from 2022 (Gangubai Kathiawadi, RRR, Brahmastra and the OTT sizzler, Darlings).

Deepika Padukone: With stellar turns in both Pathaan and her extended cameo in Jawan, Deepika remained top of the heap after Alia Bhatt.

Hrithik Roshan: Appeared in the last frame of Tiger 3 as Major Kabir from War doing some gritty action as a promo for War 2. He was not seen in the lead this year.

Katrina Kaif: Tiger 3 did well, but not as superbly as its two prequels. Her chemistry with Salman Khan on-screen continued to rock, though.

Kriti Sanon: This comely lass made wrong choices and has suffered ignominy from a triad of flops—Adipurush, Ganapath and Shehzada. Happily, she is still doing some good projects.

Ranbir Kapoor: Officially called a “Super Star” in the credit titles of the whopper, Animal, Ranbir’s advantage was that he also gave the finest performance of the year in it. He also had a hit in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and became the first hero to give three successive 100-crore films since the pandemic ended, with the 2022 Brahmastra preceding this year’s hits.

Ranveer Singh: Reclaimed lost status with his excellent titular turn in his sole release, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

Salman Khan: Tiger 3’s success saved Salman Khan’s status, though his disaster, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan too chalked up 100 crore—an indication of his terrific mass following. And his cameo in Pathaan was generally believed to have contributed some of the extraordinary business done by that film. He also presented Farrey, which launched his niece Alizeh Agnihotri, and was critically applauded.

Shah Rukh Khan: King Khan roared back to success playing an espionage agent in Pathaan, the first pure Hindi film (after Bahubali 2—The Conclusion) to cross Rs. 500 crore net in India, followed by the even-bigger Jawan as a soldier and vigilante. His Dunki, also as a soldier, is the year-end release.

Sunny Deol: At 66, the OG action hero of the 1980s and 1990s is back in demand with two spectacular performances—the film’s and his own!—reprising the iconic Tara Singh in the cult sequel that Gadar 2 has become 22 years after Gadar—Ek Prem Katha.

Here are the remaining actors and actresses and their scoreboards this year.

The successes are listed in CAPITALS, while an asterisk (*) indicates cameos and Italics indicate OTT film releases, whose success or otherwise cannot be quantified. CAPITALIZED ITALICS indicate Web Series.

Actors:

Abhishek Bachchan—Ghoomer

Amitabh Bachchan—Ghoomer*, Ganapath

Anil Kapoor—ANIMAL, THE NIGHT MANAGER (Series)

Arjun Kapoor—The Lady Killer

Ayushmaan Khurrana—DREAMGIRL 2

Bobby Deol—ANIMAL

Dharmendra—ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHAANI

John Abraham—PATHAAN

Kamal Haasan—Leo (Voiceover only / Dubbed), Vikram (Dubbed)

Kartik Aaryan—Shehzada, TU JHOOTHI MAIN MAKKAAR*, SATYAPREM KI KATHA

Nana Patekar—GADAR 2* (Voice Only), The Vaccine War

Prabhas—Adipurush, SALAAR (Dubbed / No records yet)

Rajnikanth—Jailer (Dubbed)

Saif Ali Khan—Adipurush

Sanjay Dutt—Leo (Dubbed), JAWAN*

Shahid Kapoor—Bloody Daddy, FARZI (Series)

Sidharth Malhotra—Mission Majnu

Tiger Shroff— Ganapath

Varun Dhawan—Bawaal¸ ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHAANI*

Vicky Kaushal—The Great Indian Family, Sam Bahadur, ZARA HATKE ZARA BACHKE, DUNKI* (No records yet) 

Actresses:

Amisha Patel—GADAR 2

Ananya Panday—DREAMGIRL 2, ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHAANI*

Bhumi Pednekar—Thank You for Coming, Bheed, Afwaah, The Lady Killer

Dimple Kapadia—TU JHOOTHI MAIN MAKKAAR, SAAS BAHU AUR FLAMINGO (Series)

Janhvi Kapoor—Bawaal, ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHAANI*

Jaya Bachchan—ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHAANI

Kajol—THE TRIAL (Series), Lust Stories 2

Kangana Ranaut—Tejas

Kareena Kapoor Khan—Jaane Jaan

Kiara Advani—SATYAPREM KI KATHA

Pooja Hegde—Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan

Rani Mukerji—MRS. CHATTERJEE VS. NORWAY

Sara Ali Khan—ZARA HATKE ZARA BACHKE, ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHANI*

Shabana Azmi—ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHANI

Shraddha Kapoor—TU JHOOTHI MAIN MAKKAAR

Sushmita Sen—TAALI, AARYA 3 (Both Series)

Tabu—Kuttey, Khufiya, Bholaa

Vidya Balan—Neeyat

Yami Gautam Dhar—OMG2, Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga, Lost