Year Ender 2022: Bollywood Films That Succeeded Despite Calls For Boycott

The #BoycottBollywood trend created quite a buzz this year on Twitter. With every new Bollywood film announced, this trend was in rise.

While Bollywood faced a massive blow as an aftereffect of the trend, there were a few films that also managed to achieve success at the box office and with critics despite the trend. Here are four such Bollywood films that were either huge box-office hits nationally and globally or critically acclaimed or both.

Gangubai Kathaiwadi

Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the 2022 Hindi film Gangubai Kathiawadi, starring Alia Bhatt in the lead, is a semi-biographical crime drama. The film is based on the true story of Ganga Jagjivandas Kathiawadi, popularly known as Gangubai Kothewali, whose life was documented in the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai written by S. Hussain Zaidi. Besides #BoycottBollywood, Bhatt has also been a target of the boycott trend as she is the daughter of Mahesh Bhatt, who faced the wrath of trolls after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Gangubai Kathiawadi earned over ₹200 crores gross worldwide.

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Darlings

The dark comedy film Darlings, starring Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah, and Vijay Varma, was released on Netflix on August 5. The film faced the boycott trend soon after the release of its trailer. Though the trailer featured Bhatt playing the role of a victim of domestic violence, people seemed to ignore it completely. Several people began using the boycott hashtag for the film, comparing it to the latest Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial and saying that Darlings was promoting domestic violence against men.

However, following its release, the film made it to the top 10 list of Netflix and received widespread praise for each actor’s performance and the depiction of domestic violence.

Brahmastra

Directed by Ayan Mukerji, Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva stars big names including Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy, and even Shah Rukh Khan in a cameo. Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva faced boycott on social media for several reasons. From accusations of nepotism in the industry to old videos of Kapoor allegedly disrespecting women, claiming to enjoy eating beef, and making an insensitive joke about Bhatt’s pregnancy, the film and the actors have been facing boycotts for all kinds of reasons. The film is a fantasy adventure serving as the first in the planned Brahmastra trilogy, which is supposed to be a part of its own cinematic universe titled Astraverse. After the release, though the film was criticised for the excessive number of times Isha calls Shivas by his name , the poorly written dialogues and the storyline, the film was praised for its VFX and earned over ₹400 crores at the box office.

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Drishyam 2

Drishyam 2 is the sequel to the 2015 crime thriller Drishyam, is a Hindi remake of the 2013 Malayalam film of the same name. The film follows the story of a family man who takes desperate measures trying to save his family from the darker side of the law after they commit an unintentional crime. The sequel is based on the 2021 Malayalam sequel of the same name. The story takes place seven years after the incident in Drishyam. The film collected over ₹200 crores.