Republic Day: Box-Office Clashes In The Last Decade

Republic Day is a significant day of celebration all over the country. Therefore, there is no doubt that this is one of the most sought-after dates for film releases in Bollywood. But, more than the day itself, Bollywood anticipates a surge in revenue throughout the Republic Day long weekend in order to capitalise on the holiday.

So, while there have been numerous big-budget films released at the theatres over the years on this Republic Day weekend, but there have also been some big box-office clashes. Just in the last few years, this weekend has become a huge thing with lots of big stars trying to get this weekend for the releases of their films.

As we celebrate the 73^rd Republic Day today, here’s taking a look down memory lane to see the biggest box-office clashes on this holiday weekend in the last 10 years.

‘Panga’ Vs ‘Street Dancer 3D’ (2020)

Just a few weeks before the lockdown on theatres hit, these two big-budget films competed at the box-office. ‘Panga’, starring actress Kangana Ranaut and actor-singer Jassie Gill, was a sweet story of a young athlete, who had left all her dreams and ambitions after becoming a mother. With the help of a supportive husband, she tries to have another shot at reviving her sports career. Fighting it out at the box-office was a dance film, ‘Street Dancer 3D’, starring actor Varun Dhawan and actress Shraddha Kapoor. The film was much hyped and talked about as it was the third part of the franchise. Both the films didn’t do great at the ticket windows, but at least, ‘Panga’ managed to win over the critics. ‘Street Dancer 3D’ managed to kill the franchise down.

‘Thackeray’ Vs ‘Manikarnika’ (2019)

The biopic on the life of the Maharashtra politician Bal Thackeray was much in talks ever since actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui was signed out to play the lead character. The film got people talking a lot. While many alleged that it was somehow trying to whitewash the image of the political leader, others claimed that it managed to show a true depiction of Thackeray’s life. ‘Manikarnika’ as well,  was a much spoken-of film. It had its own controversies with actress Kangana Ranaut taking out the directorial reigns after the original director Krrish finished the entire shoot. It was alleged that Ranaut tried to make the movie more about her, which led to actor Sonu Sood and a few others refusing to reshoot the portions. The movie was based on the life of the freedom fighter Rani Lakshmibai. ‘Manikarnika’ did well at the ticket windows. ‘Thackeray’ gained some popularity in Maharashtra, but wasn’t able to get pan-India fame.

‘Kaabil’ Vs ‘Raees’ (2017)

This was one of the most epic battles of all time. Initially, ‘Kaabil’, starring actor Hrithik Roshan and actress Yami Gautam, was supposed to be released on Republic Day, whereas ‘Raees’, starring actor Shah Rukh Khan and actress Mahira Khan, was supposed to be released in 2016. However, owing to a scheduling conflict, ‘Raees’ selected Republic Day in 2017. The creators of ‘Kaabil’ attempted to avoid the conflict by postponing the movie to January 25, but the makers of ‘Raees’ followed suit, and the two films collided a day before Republic Day. Both the films did well at the ticket windows, but ‘Kaabil’ ended up being the more memorable film out of the two.

‘Airlift’ Vs ‘Kya Kool Hai Hum 3’ (2016)

Actor Akshay Kumar has made the holidays of Independence Day and Republic Day his own. As a result, Akshay Kumar had a release for both the Republic Day and Independence Day weekends in 2016. ‘Airlift’, his first film of the year, was on the real-life operation carried out in Kuwait by the Indian government to help Indians come out of the country after war broke out. Despite criticism from the government for a lack of solid study and oversimplification of a difficult procedure, the film performed exceptionally well. On the other hand, ‘Kya Kool Hai Hum 3’ was released which was the third part of the adult comedy franchise. While this genre was almost fading out by this time, the makers decided to pull one last straw, and needless to say, it was completely crushed by ‘Airlift’ at the ticket windows.

‘Baby’ Vs ‘Dolly Ki Doli’ (2015)

It was a showdown between actor Akshay Kumar with his trio of intelligence agents competing with actress Sonam Kapoor with her trio of lovers. While ‘Baby’ was an edge-of-the-seat thriller, ‘Dolly Ki Doli’ was a con artiste story with Kapoor being the bride going about conning men into marrying her. While the former ‘Baby’ turned out to be a great hit, the latter ‘Dolly Ki Doli’ hit the dust despite having actors like Rajkummar Rao, Pulkit Samrat, and Varun Sharma in the cast. ‘Baby’ has since then gone on to attain the status of one of the finest thrillers in Indian cinema whereas no one even remembers ‘Dolly Ki Doli’ anymore.

‘Race 2’ Vs ‘Akaash Vani’ (2013)

The sequel to the 2008 film ‘Race’ was released during Republic Day weekend in 2013. The film also starred actress Jacqueline Fernandez, actor John Abraham, and actress Deepika Padukone in addition to actors Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor. At the same time, filmmaker Luv Ranjan's ‘Akaash Vani’, starring ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama's famous Jodi, actor Kartik Aaryan, and actress Nushrratt Bharuccha, was also released. Fans were expecting another sleeper hit like ‘Pyar Ka Punchnama’ with the trio, but sadly, that didn’t happen. While ‘Race 2’ went on to become a blockbuster thanks to the mystery-laden storyline, ‘Akaash Vani’ turned out to be a disaster.