It was a mixed year for the Hindi film industry as there were few hits and several misses.
After a barren 2021 and an abridged 2020, things have started looking up, what with some volume of hits coming up.
Three Bollywood films score a double century — earned more than Rs 200 crores or Rs 2 billion — while a couple of biggies from the south set greater records.
The Top-10 grossing Hindi films of 2022:
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
KGF: Chapter 2 (Hindi)
Box office collection: Rs 434.70 crores/Rs 4.347 billion
KGF: Chapter 2 did tremendous business in the Hindi version.
In fact, the film earned even more in Hindi than the Kannada version, which was a blockbuster as well.
Second only to Baahubali: The Conclusion, which crossed the Rs 500 crores (Rs 5 billion) mark in the Hindi version, this Prashant Neel directed Yash starrer topped the Rs 400 crores milestone, emerging as an all time blockbuster.
RRR (Hindi)
Box office collection: Rs 274.31 crores (Rs 2.7431 billion)
It came, it saw, it conquered.
RRR did huge business at the box office in all versions.
This film deserved to enter the Rs 300 Crore Club, though it did well to reach close to it.
Brahmastra
Box office collection: Rs 264 crores (Rs 2.64 billion)
The Hindi version of the Ayan Mukerji directed film topped the Rs 230 crores (Rs 2.3 billion) mark; good moolah came from the south as well, especially the Telugu version.
The Kashmir Files
Box office collection: Rs 253 crores (Rs 2.53 billion)
It came out of nowhere and shook up the industry and, of course, the audience.
Anupam Kher and Darshan Kumaar led the show in Director Vivek Agnihotri’s film, which scored a double century and more.
Drishyam 2
Box office collection: Rs 235 crores (Rs 2.35 bilion)+ (expected)
Drishyam 2 came at a time when it was felt that only event releases with a big screen experience, courtesy VFX, would excite the audience.
Abhishek Pathak’s film defied such assumptions and went on to grow from strength to strength.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
Box office collection: Rs 186 crores (Rs 1.86 billion)
When it seemed that Bollywood would continue to suffer one flop after another, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 pretty much revived the industry.
The Kartik Aaryan starrer helped theatres regain audience footfalls and ended up a blockbuster.
The Anees Bazmee directed-Bhushan Kumar produced film is also huge in terms of returns versus cost of production.
Gangubai Kathiawadi
Box office collection: Rs 129.10 crores (Rs 1.291 billion)
The first hit of 2022, Gangubai Kathiawadi was special in many ways.
Released immediately after the lockdown was lifted and theatres opened again, the film arrived amidst a lot of risk.
No one knew if audiences would step into theatres; the subject too wasn’t the kind which catered to family audiences.
Still, the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed film worked well, to score a good century at the box office.
JugJugg Jeeyo
Box office collection: Rs 85.25 crores (Rs 852.5 million)
In a year where several biggies struggled to cross even the Rs 50 crores mark, Raj Mehta’s JugJugg Jeeyo went past the Rs 75 crores mark.
The Neetu Kapoor-Anil Kapoor-Varun Dhawan-Kiara Advani starrer could have topped the Rs 100 crores mark had it opened as per expectations.
Kantara (Hindi)
Box office collection: Rs 85 crores (Rs 850 million)
A film which was not on the map of major 2022 releases. No hype or hoopla about its release in the Hindi version either.
Still, such powerful was the word of mouth around this Rishab Shetty film that it grew leaps and bounds with every passing day.
Vikram Vedha
Box office collection: Rs 77.51 crores (Rs 775.1 million)
If Vikram Vedha finds a place on this list, it’s only because it’s amongst the Top 10 grossers, and not because it’s a success.
There were huge expectations from this Saif Ali Khan-Hrithik Roshan starrer, and Directors Gayatri-Pushkar made an entertaining film too.
However, as has been seen with many films in 2022, some well deserved ones failed to take off as well and Vikram Vedha is one such film.
