Rani Mukerji looks back at cinema in 2023: 'A year when underdogs won'

Mumbai, March 5 (IANS) Rani Mukerji has said 2023 was a "myth-busting landmark" year for Hindi cinema, for not only did ambitious projects such as 'Pathaan' and 'Gadar 2' turn out to be blocbusters, but also content-driven films like '12th Fail' and 'Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway' disrupted the box office.

"It was a year when the underdogs won," she said.

Mukerji, who has many big hits on her filmography and is married to hitmaker Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films, was speaking at the 24th edition of FICCI Frames in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The actress said: "The last few years have seen a dynamic environment for content. The pandemic forced us to adapt and innovate, and to reimagine the ways in which we connect with the audience because the consumers have evolved too and want us to deliver something unique for them."

Continuing on the subject of big-budget movies making it big on the box office, Mukerji said, "I am thrilled that the theatrical business is back and mega entertainers such as 'Pathaan', 'Jawan', 'Gadar 2', 'Tiger 3', 'Animal', 'Leo', 'Salaar', 'Jailer', 'Ponniyin Selvan' and 'Carry on Jatta 3' have made box-office history in a single calendar year, which pulled the audience back to the theatres. We have witnessed a myth-busting landmark in cinema."

Mentioning the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'Pathaan', Mukerji pointed out that it was released during the phase when the Hindi film industry was recovering post the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of single-screen cinemas were shutting down.

"I congratulate my industry for turning the tide and showing the world that Hindi cinema cannot fall prey to social media trolling," Mukerji said, adding: "We have to constantly work hard to deliver better experiences. It has also been a year when the underdogs won."

On the subject of content-driven films, Mukerji said: "The fact that everyone was made to believe content films wouldn't do well theatrically and should be restricted only to OTT platforms was busted by some of the content movies that were released in 2023."

Mukerji concluded by noting optimistically: "'Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway', '12th Fail', 'The Kerala Story', 'OMG 2', 'Kabuliwala' and 'Baby' busted the myth that only big- scale projects would work in the cinemas and content-driven films won't disrupt the box office."