Women Power in 2012 Box Office : Kareena Kapoor ‘s Heroine, Vidya Balan’s Kahaani and Sunny Leones’ Jism 2

2012 has been a year of women for Bollywood. The leading ladies bagged it all, riveting performances to the best plots to the most successful films. The female protagonist and strong female characters on the lead overpowered and overshadowed Bollywood this year. It not only opened up an interesting path for more women centric films to be made but also Bollywood has come out of its hero worshipping. Heroines are the new heroes of 2012.
(Amount in Crores Indian BO)Kareena Kapoor
(Heroine)
Jism 2
(Sunny Leone)
Kahaani
(Vidya Balan)
Dangerous Ishhq
(Karisma Kapoor)
Opening Day7.207.502.071.01
Opening Weekend252013.053.08
Week 136* (estimated)27.50236
Lifetime42*(estimated)33.5059.266.05

Heroine

Kareena Kapoor hot in Heroine Movie Stills
Kareena Kapoor hot in Heroine Movie Stills

Kareena Kapoor was the ultimate driving force of the film. Madhur Bhandarkar known for creating honest cinema didn’t exactly create a wonder cinema this time. Heroine received mixed reviews from critics. Bhandarkar’s direction overpowers the film making it very predictable. Kareena’s performance does manage to stand out making her charcter memorable and her role poignant. The female narrative works for this film well garnering the sympathies of the audience for Mahi’s character who pops pills and valiantly fights depression. Kareena has her finger of the pulse of her character and plays it fine. The film was, however, criticized for its mundane screenplay. After opening at a collection of 7.20 crores, the film is estimated to rake up almost 42 crore rupees.

Jism 2

Sunny Leone Hot in Jism 2 Movie Stills
  1. Sunny Leone Hot in Jism 2 Movie Stills
Jism 2 is an erotic thriller that garnered much hype as it was the Bollywood debut of the famous Indo-Candian Porn Star, Sunny Leone. There were mixed reviews on the film. A few critics hailed Sunny Leone’s performance as great and the movie as sexy. While others thought it was a drag bore with a generous dollop of erotica and a failed anti climax. The film opened with a good collection of 7.50 crores on the first day and raked up a lifetime earning of 33.50 crores. The film aroused a great deal of curiosity because of Sunny Leone’s brand name being attached to the film.

Dangerous Ishhq

Karisma Kapoor hot in Dangerous Ishhq Movie Stills
Karisma Kapoor hot in Dangerous Ishhq Movie Stills
Dangerous Ishhq was a fantasy driven, supernatural film which was the comeback venture of Karisma Kapoor after a nine year long break. Karisma who is known for her brilliant acting skills and delivering masterpieces like Zubeidaa was criticized harshly for this film. Her acting was earnest but the film was a terrible torture. The film could barely manage a collection of 6.05 crores.

Kahaani

Vidya Balan in a still from Kahaani Movie
Vidya Balan in a still from Kahaani Movie
2012 began stupendously with Vidya Balan’s Kahaani. She had already given a smasing performance in Balaji’s The Dirty Picture. This film was quite in contrast to her previous role. Set in the serene “City of Joy”, Kolkata, the film is essentially a suspense thriller. Vidya played a pregnant lady who lands in Kolkata to search for her missing husband and mysterious circumstances and incidents follow. The film captured the ethnic beauty of the Bengali culture and life of Kolkata. The plot was full of mesmerizing suspense and the plot worked as the USP of the film. The movie raked a huge profit at box office. It opened at 2.07 crores and earned a lifetime amount of 59.26 crores.
Women oriented roles are preferred as Bollywood takes a sharp turn towards realism. Women narrators are better equipped to tell stories with a greater finesse, keeping intact the sensitive value of the film. The dramatic content is always on a high when a woman is a protagonist. Bollywood has always been male dominated with most stories centered on the lives of the heroes. Women characters were created to play a supporting role. They added a tinge of romance. Lately, stories were created keeping in mind the woman as the pivotal character on the role which holds and binds the film together. This change in Bollywood will certainly help in a more sensible characterization, rather than creating a male dominated and chauvinistic beat of cinema.

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