2022 Tollywood box office report card: Five highest-grossing films bring new hope for industry

The post-pandemic era hasn’t been as smooth as one imagined it would be. While Bollywood faced an acid test to get the audience back to the theatres and stay relevant, the box office result stunned film analysts as South Indian films and regional content ruled the charts with massive blockbusters. Closer home, 2022 was a litmus test for Tollywood as well. There some major misses while enjoying a few hits. As the year is coming to an end, here’s a list of five Bengali films which managed to bring a breath of fresh air with praise-worthy box office numbers.

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The Dhrubo Banerjee directorial continuing the legacy of the 'Guptodhon' franchise turns out to be the highest-grossing Bengali film of 2022 with raking in approximately 9.8 crores at the Tollywood box office. Dhrubo returns with yet another extremely interesting historical premise. Building on a 12^th century claim that Shashanka was the destroyer of many Buddhist stupas in Bengal, the film begins on a slow note, but picks up pace, with plot points referring to a period where King Shashanka would rule the kingdom of Gouda, around the times of King Harshavardhana. The trio Abir Chatterjee, Arjun Chakrabarty and Ishaa Saha with their brilliant chemistry wins hearts once again.

Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta's 'Belashuru' is their last film together and will always be memorable for Bengali audiences for that. The emotional quotient sweeps you away throughout the film and that's the USP of this Nandita Roy-Shiboprosad Mukherjee directorial. The film is a tale of timeless love and towering performances. The multi-starrer family drama reportedly earned 4.38 crores at the Tollywood box office.

Anik Dutta's film is a fitting tribute to Satyajit Ray in black and white. This is also the most surprising hit of Bengali cinema in 2022. What’s more, it makes you want to go back and watch Satyajit Ray’s 'Pather Panchali' again. The Jeetu we see on screen is a spitting image of the young Ray, thanks to some great prosthetics by makeup man Somnath Kundu. And the actor deserves a round of applause for recreating the legendary filmmaker so fluidly on screen. And so do the other actors, especially Saayoni, who plays Aparajito’s astute and creative wife, for bringing to life the people behind Ray’s success. As per reports, the Ray-tribute film collected near about 2.94 crores at the box office.

Anirban Bhattacharya’s film is yet another surprise package of 2022. The visual artistry, the screenwriting, the score, the cinematography, and the humour, everything seems to be in sync. Based on a Badal Sircar play of the same name the film follows the last descendant of an erstwhile Bengal dynasty — Bhupati Roy is buried under a mountain of debt and wants to sell off his ancestral home. Released on October 25, the film has so far earned reportedly 4 crores and it continues to enjoy almost houseful shows.

The Rahool Mukherjee-directed film, starring Dev and Rukmini Maitra in the lead, is a refreshing family entertainer. It's a simple, endearing film for all ages and is a light, refreshing watch after all the stress of the past couple of years. The animations in the film are good and add a young and colourful touch to the narrative. Though the mood sways between light and serious throughout the film, it never loses its tempo. The rom-com reportedly minted 2.06 crores after its release on April 29.