Bollywood asianculturevulture vibes – Holi celebrations; O’Romeo success, ‘The Kerala Story 2’ green light…
As Bollywood prepares for Holi, here’s how movie releases in February competed for eyeballs at the box office, and more…
BY Rodrigues C
THE FESTIVE season in India is about to begin – Holi will be celebrated on March 3. And Mumbai is preparing for the festival of colours in a big way.
Bollywood is known for its lavish Holi parties as well and even from the times of Raj Kapoor, in the 1960s and1970s. Arguably, the biggest Holi parties in Bollywood were hosted by Kapoor at his iconic RK Studios, which sadly is now being redeveloped into a luxury apartment complex.
Despite RK Studios being situated in the suburb of Chembur, several Bollywood biggies including Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra and other stars used to attend this jamboree.
Almost the whole of Bollywood stays in the Bandra-Khar-Juhu belt and Chembur is a good 30-minutes away by car. But celebs would still travel all the way. Bachchan hosted Holi bashes at his Juhu pads Prateeksha and Jalsa for several years. But now he celebrates with just his family and close Bollywood friends.
Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi have been hosting Holi parties for the last few years and have seen guests such as Farhan Akhtar, Dia Mirza, Nandita Das, Divya Dutta, Rahul Bose and Neena Gupta. Over the years, the duo’s Holi parties have gotten smaller in terms of celebrity attendances.
Shah Rukh Khan has hosted several Holi bashes at Mannat, another party hub of filmdom. In fact, a famous video has been circulating the web for years where a young SRK is seen convincing his better half Gauri Khan to jump into a pool of coloured water.
Filmmakers Subhash Ghai, Karan Johar and David Dhawan and actor Chunky Pandey are also seen in the video.
The Ambanis, who are among the world’s richest folks, have hosted the biggest celebrations all over India at their Antilia mansion. They have also hosted Holi parties with big names such as Madhuri Dixit, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and husband Nick and Katrina Kaif in attendance.
Among others, Vicky Kaushal and Shahid Kapoor also host smaller Holi parties annually.
Over to what’s happening in cinema halls over the country.
Over the past few days, ‘The Kerala Story 2’ has made headlines in India. The movie was scheduled for release on February 27. But earlier this week, the Kerala High Court stayed the release of the movie because of a petition that stated that the film’s promotional material is “misleading” and could “disturb public order” among other things. But on February 27, the Kerala High Court set aside its earlier order and paved the way for the thriller’s release. The film has now been released in theatres today (February 28).
Several politicians from Kerala and other parts of India have also criticised the film.
The thriller’s first installment ‘The Kerala Story’ was a huge hit back in 2023 minting £24.8 million on a budget of a meagre £1.6m. ‘The Kerala Story’ sparked controversy with its narrative about young vulnerable Kerala women being groomed and then sent to the Middle East.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s highly-anticipated ‘O’Romeo’ featuring Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri hit screens on February 13.
The third collaboration between Bhardwaj and Kapoor kick-started with just about £700,000 on day one in India. The next day, a Saturday (February 21), the collections rose 45 per cent, but fell sharply by 25 per cent on Sunday due to the India-Pakistan cricket match.
Its first week takings stood at £2.4m. The next week saw low figures; may be the T20 Cricket World Cup is affecting its numbers. As things stand, the romantic action thriller has reached the magic figure of ₹100 crore or £8.1m. The Sajid Nadiadwala production is believed to have cost its makers about £10 million.
‘The Kerala Story 2’ was supposed to be its only competitor of the month, its release getting postponed hasn’t helped the film either.
Siddhant Chaturvedi-Mrunal Thakur starrer ‘Do Deewane Seher Mein’ released on February 20 and has fared badly at the box office collecting just £686,000 on a budget of £2m.
Bejoy Nambiar’s ‘Tu Ya Main’ also failed to resonate at the box office. Released on February 13, the Adarsh Gourav-Shanaya Kapoor romance could collect only about £450,000 so far. The film has, though, overtaken the earnings of Gourav’s most famous project, the acclaimed ‘Superboys Of Malegaon’, which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and also featured at London Film Festival and proved a hit with UK critics.
March will see a slew of big and small budget movies vying for attention at the box office. This included one of the most anticipated movies of 2026 – Aditya Dhar’s ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ featuring Ranveer Singh, R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna and Arjun Rampal.
Then there is ‘Toxic’, Yash’s first film after the 2022 blockbuster ‘KGF: Chapter 2’. The Telugu thriller, which hits theatres on March 19, also stars Kiara Advani, Nayanthara and Tara Sutaria. Another Telugu thriller ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ with Pawan Kalyan and Sreeleela will release on March 25.
‘The Kerala Story’ director Sudipto Sen’s film ‘Charak: Fair of Faith’ staring Anjali Patil and Subrat Dutta is in line for a release on March 6 along with ‘Na Jaane Kaun Aa Gaya’ featuring Pranay Pachauri and Madhurima Roy on the same day.
So far, March will indeed be the biggest month for Bollywood when it comes to big releases. At this point, it doesn’t get bigger than this for 2026. Wonder which biggie will win the race for the top spot?
Our bet is on ‘Toxic’, which at the £50-57m, is the most expensive Indian film to date. Adios till March and Happy Holi if you are celebrating!
