The year 2019 in films comes to an end with Asad Zaman Khan and Elysee starrer Sacch that released last week. According to Box Office Detail, that exclusively tracks and reports box office numbers in Pakistan, this year has been low in terms of box office business. In fact, for the first time in recent years, there was no blockbuster and there has been a decline of about 35 per cent from last year.
In 2018, the three films released on Eid ul Azha together raked in almost PKR 1 billion while in 2019 the commutative gross of top 5 films hit a similar figure at the box office.
Sheheryar Munawar and Maya Ali starrer Parey Hut Love and Mohammad Ehteshamuddin’s debut film Superstar that stars Mahira Khan and Bilal Ashraf in lead roles raked in 240 million, becoming the highest grossing film of 2019. However, the combined figures of Parey Hut Love and Superstar make less than Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2, a 2018 release.
Yasir Nawaz’s Wrong No. 2 that features Neelam Muneer and Sami Khan is on the third spot, with a total of 215.5 million at the local box office. Only three films crossed the PKR 200 million mark in 2019 while six films managed to hit PKR 100 million mark, also in 2019, which is a plus compared to 2018 as there were only five 100+ million grossing films.
Also, none of the films released in 2019 - broke any previous box office records.
After Parey Hut Love, Superstar and Wrong No. 2, other films that generated decent numbers at the box office include Wajahat Rauf’s Chhalawa that collected PKR 180 million, followed by Azfar Jafri’s Sherdil with PKR 130 million and Saqib Malik’s debut film Baaji with PKR 120 million. Films below the 100 million mark include Azfar Jafri’s Heer Maan Ja that raked in PKR 80+ million while Kamal Khan’s Laal Kabootar collection PKR 32 million.
This year, Nadeem Baig and Nabeel Qureshi, the two directors known for giving us hits films, didn’t make any film. However, the two have announced their films for 2020, in addition to a huge line up including Tich Button, Money Back Guarantee, Dam Mastam, etc. that are scheduled to release next year. Some of the country’s biggest stars including Fahad Mustafa, Humayun Saeed, Fawad Khan to name just three will also be seen on the big screen in 2020. Fingers crossed!
