KHAKI-NOMICS: BOLLYWOOD’S RELIABLE FORMULA

Which is that one genre that never goes out of fashion in Bollywood? Cop dramas. From Amitabh Bachchan’s hard-hitting, ‘angry with the system’ cop act in Zanjeer (1973) to Salman Khan’s maverick cop act in Dabangg (2010), this genre gets accepted by the audiences with open arms.

The latest entry is the Ranveer Singh-starrer Simmba, which has already crossed the ₹200-crore mark and continues to stay strong. Director of the film, Rohit Shetty also helmed Singham (2011) and its sequel, Singham Returns (2014), both of which earned ₹100 crore. Encouraged by the response to such films, a slew of upcoming films will see biggies donning the khaki uniform. Akshay Kumar will be seen as a supercop in Shetty’s Sooryavanshi, John Abraham in Batla House, and Rani Mukerji in Mardaani Returns. Dabang g3is also set to go on floors. Trade expert Atul Mohan, however, reasons that it isn’t as if cop dramas have a consistent track record. “It all depends on how you make the film. There are many examples which didn’t do well. Priyanka Chopra-starrer Jai Gangaajal (2016), Sanjay Dutt-starrer Department (2012) are few such films,” he says.

Let’s take a look at the box office figures that cop dramas have earned in the last decade.

John Abraham will play the role of a cop in the upcoming film Batla House, while Akshay Kumar will don the uniform for Sooryavanshi (extreme right)