Trending Bollywood movies of the year so far: Pathaan, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and more

2023 is off to a strong start for films. The first half of the year has undoubtedly had a lot to offer audiences in terms of theatrical releases and streaming-only content. A diversified roster of films, in terms of plot, budget, and genre, has been presented by major studio tentpole ventures, pictures from the festival circuit making their way into theatres, and high-profile streaming releases. The halfway point of 2023 has seen its fair share of few films that would be a highlight of just about any year. Whether these films impressed the public or not, one cannot deny that they were the talk of the town (some more than others) when released. From spy thriller Pathaan knocking it out of the park in the very first month of the year to Adipurush creating much buzz for its marketing tactics recently, here are a few trending films of the year so far.

Mission Manju

Director: Shantanu Bagchi

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Rashmika Mandanna, Sharib Hashmi, Kumud Mishra, Paremeet Sethi, Mir Sarwar, Zachary Coffin

A espionage thriller about the hostility between India and Pakistan in the 1970s, featuring Sidharth Malhotra after his praiseworthy performance in Shershaah, is the ideal formula for a captivating drama. The fictitious tale is based on true events, including Pakistan’s covert nuclear weapons development after the Indo-Pak War of 1971. In Pakistan, a top secret nuclear weapons test was carried out in the 1970s. Amandeep Singh, an Indian undercover spy, must reveal everything in order to shed the label of “traitor’s son” and continue living a happy married life with a blind Pakistani woman named Nasreen and a child on the way.

Pathaan

Director: Siddharth Anand 

Cast:  Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia, Ashutosh Rana

Pathaan is an ambitious action thriller that plays to the crowd and lives up to the expectations, is something of an event movie since it marks Shah Rukh Khan’s return to the big screen after a long absence of four years. The story revolves around India’s decision to revoke Article 370 (the special status of Jammu and Kashmir) and how it affects a Pakistani officer who demands compensation from India for its “mistake.” He extends an olive branch to the imposing Jim, an ex-RAW agent who was wronged by his own people. He is accompanied by his partner Rubina, a former ISI operative played by Deepika Padukone, who has vague motivations. They travel across continents while playing a risky game of betrayal and retaliation. The three fight one another in an effort to destroy and protect the worlds they value most.

Shehzada

Director: Rohit Dhawan

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Paresh Rawal, Kriti Sanon, Manisha Koirala, Ronit Roy

The movie, which is a remake of the Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, centres around Bantu (Kartik Aaryan). He has endured his father Valmiki’s vitriolic speech his entire life until he learns that he was actually exchanged at birth and is the heir to a powerful family. He relocates into their mansion to safeguard them from a drug lord’s onslaught and aids the family in resolving their problems.

Gulmohar

Director: Rahul V Chittella

Cast: Sharmila Tagore, Manoj Bajpayee, Simran, Amol Palekar, Suraj Sharma, Kaveri Seth, Utsavi Jha, Talat Aziz

The Batra family is residing in their 34-year-old New Delhi home for the final four days before it is demolished for development. As the matriarch makes the decision to relocate to Puducherry and live independently, she wants to spend one final Holi as a family. The movie covers each family member’s individual plot as the house is being packed up, exploring their secrets, family dynamics, and what the future holds for them.

Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar

Director: Luv Ranjan

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Anubhav Singh Bassi, Dimple Kapadia, Boney Kapoor, Hasleen Kaur, Inayat Verma, Monica Chaudhary

When a “player” discovers a girl who is a worthy opponent and who thinks that falling in love is a game of wits, chaos results. Mickey (Ranbir Kapoor), a breakup expert by trade, travels to Spain with his pal Dabbas for his bachelor party (Anubhav Singh Bassi). On what was intended to be his bachelors’ trip, Dabbas is joined by his own fiancée Kinchi (Monica Chaudhary) and her companion Tinni (Shraddha Kapoor). Mickey and Tinni eventually start to fall in love. There are numerous events in the script, so without giving away any plot points what comes next is a romantic comedy episode with strong family-centred humour. 

Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway

Director: Ashima Chhibber 

Cast: Neena Gupta , Rani Mukherjee , Jim Sarbh , Anirban Bhattacharya , Mithu Chakraborty , Soumya Mukherjee , Kristjan Sarv

The real-life experience of Sagarika Chakraborty, an Indian woman whose children were abducted by the Norwegian government, served as the basis for the movie. In 2012, Sagarika gained attention for her battle with the Norwegian government to regain custody of her children. The movie follows Indian immigrant Debika Chatterjee (Rani Mukerji) as she battles for custody of her own kids after the Norwegian childcare services place them in foster care. She is found unfit to raise them. The entire incident even led to a diplomatic issue between India and Norway.

Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan

Director: Farhad Samji

Cast: Salman Khan, Pooja Hegde, Venkatesh, Jagapathi Babu, Raghav Juyal, Siddharth Nigam, Shehnaaz Gill, Jassie Gill, Palak Tiwari

Salman Khan’s character, Bhaijaan, is dedicated to leading a single life in order to care for his three younger bhais. They already have life partners, but Bhaijaan is still flying solo. They therefore scramble to find a match for him. Enter Bhagya Laxmi (Pooja Hegde), who not only matches all criteria but also carries the same name as Bhaijaan’s long-deceased ex-girlfriend. The catch is that this relationship is much more convoluted than it appears because Bhagya’s Hyderabadi family has a shadowy and troubling past.

Director: Apoorv Singh Karki

Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha, Jai Hind Kumar

This is the story of a Sessions Court attorney in Jodhpur, who battles a five-year battle to deliver justice to a little girl who was sexually assaulted by a powerful godman. The story is based on actual events. The movie is a biography of the modest Rajasthani attorney PC Solanki, who successfully brough justice to the young girl using the POCSO Act.

Bloody Daddy 

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Diana Penty, Ronit Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Ankur Bhatia, Vivan Bhathena, Zeishan Quadri, Mukesh Bhatt, Vikram Mehra, Sartaaj Kakkar, Amy Aela

In Gurugram, an NCB officer (Shahid Kapoor) and his squad bust a narcotics trade, which causes the drug lord (Ronit Roy) to kidnap the NCB officer’s son in exchange for a bag of cocaine. The NCB officer, having no other choice, consents to pick up the bag from NCB headquarters and deliver it to his club for exchange. He quickly raises suspicions among his coworkers after visiting the club and exposing several of the NCB’s spies.

Adipurush 

Director: Om Raut

Cast: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh

The epic Ramayana is depicted in Adipurush by Om Raut. The Seeta swayamwar story, Rama’s adventures as a child, and other events that happened before his vanvas(exile) are all skimmed over in the movie. It starts directly with the abduction of Seeta by Ravana. Then it depicts the war Ram fought to get Seeta back.