Trending Movies in India

India has already seen some fantastic pictures in 2023, despite its only past five months. From Bollywood to regional films, many hit the box office and gathered craze & views on OTT too. Let’s see a few trending movies currently.

• Pathaan

It was directed by Siddharth Anand, Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia, and Ashutosh Rana. In the movie, Pathaan (Khan), an expelled RAW agent, works with ISI agent Rubina Mohsin (Padukone) to take down Jim (Abraham), an ex-RAW agent planning to spread a deadly lab-generated virus across India. Pathaan broke several box-office opening records for a Hindi film. Internationally, it became the first Hindi film to gross ₹100 crore (US$13 million) on its first day.

• Ponniyin Selvan: II

It is an epic historical film directed by Mani Ratnam. The second of two cinematic parts is based on the 1954 novel Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy, and it serves as a forthcoming sequel to Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022). The film stars Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, R. Sarathkumar and many more famous actors. The film grossed over ₹300 crores in twelve days of its release.

• Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar

It is a romantic comedy film directed by Luv Ranjan. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, and Anubhav Singh Bassi. Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar has grossed over ₹220.1 crores globally, the second-highest by a Hindi film and the fifth-highest by an Indian movie in the year 2023.

• Dasara

It is a Telugu-language period action drama film written and directed by Srikanth Odela. The cast includes Nani, Keerthy Suresh, Dheekshith Shetty, Shine Tom Chacko, Samuthirakani, Sai Kumar and Poorna. The film is set in the background of Singareni coal mines near Godavarikhani of Telangana. It received positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success. The film is now on Netflix.

• Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga

It is an Indian Hindi heist thriller directed by Ajay Singh and produced by Amar Kaushik. It stars Yami Gautam and Sunny Kaushal. The film was released on Netflix on 24 March 2023.

• The Kerala Story

The film was directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. It stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani. The story follows a group of women from Kerala who are converted to Islam and join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The film is about the conspiracy theory of “love jihad” and falsely claims that thousands of women from Kerala are being converted to Islam and recruited into ISIS. It has grossed over ₹56.86 crore (US$7.1 million), becoming the fifth-highest-grossing Hindi film of 2023. Due to high socio-political tension, the film performed well in most of India but poorly in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

• Shaakuntalam

It is a Telugu-language mythological romantic drama film written and directed by Gunasekhar. It is based on a famous play Abhignyana Shakuntalam by Kalidasa; the film features Samantha in the titular role of Shakuntala and Dev Mohan as Dushyanta, the king of the Puru dynasty, along with Mohan Babu, Jisshu Sengupta, Madhoo, Gautami, Aditi Balan and Ananya Nagalla in supporting roles.

• Afwaah

Afwaah is a mystery thriller film written and directed by Sudhir Mishra. Produced by Anubhav Sinha and Bhushan Kumar under their respective banners Benaras Media Works and T-Series Films, the film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bhumi Pednekar and Sumeet Vyas.

• Gumraah

It’s a crime thriller directed by Vardhan Ketkar. The film stars Aditya Roy Kapur in a dual role along with Mrunal Thakur and Ronit Roy. It is a remake of the 2019 Tamil film Thadam. It revolves around a murder investigation which becomes complicated after the police discover two lookalike suspects. The film has grossed ₹9.86 crore (US$1.2 million) in India.

• Vaathi

It is an Indian period action drama film written and directed by Venky Atluri. The film was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu, with the latter titled Sir in Telugu. In the movie Bala Gangadhar Tilak (Dhanush) is a third-grade junior lecturer at Tirupati Educational Institute. He stands against privatised institutes that are profit-minded in their approach to education.