Bollywood Festive Movie Releases in 2018

• Not star power or storyline, festivals are the new crowd-pullers in Bollywood; 2018 release dates prove it. 
• What makes the perfect ingredient for a ‘hit’ movie? Star power or content? Different people have varied opinions on this subject. While nobody denies the power of content.
• A look at the releases of 2018 will give you a clearer picture: 
• Republic Day 2018: Akshay Kumar’s Five. 
• Diwali 2018: Aamir and Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Thugs of Hindostan’.
• Christmas 2018: Shah Rukh Khan’s untitled movie and Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Krrish 4’ 
• Eid 2018: Now, what would this festival be without a Salman Khan release? 
• The booking of festivals much in advance highlights the growing importance of festivals in the business of cinema. A festival release ensures that holidays add up to the weekend, in turn resulting great in theatres. 
• However, festival releases are not a concept new to Bollywood. Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn are known for Diwali releases, Salman Khan for Eid and Aamir Khan for Christmas. 
• but of late, most of the movies being released during the non-festive season didn’t do much business as compare to those that were released during festivals. This may be seen as a good reason for stars booking the 2018 dates much in advance. 
• Of the four movies which made to the coveted 100-cr club, three were festive releases. 
• Superstar Salman Khan’s ‘Sultan’, over the five-day weekend it saw following Eid, minted Rs 180.30 crore. 
• Similar was the case with Akshay Kumar’s ‘Rustom’ which enjoyed an extended weekend of four days during the Independence Day weekend. The film released on August 12, earned Rs 68.23 crore by the end of Independence Day holidays. Airlift, released on January 22 this year, was another movie which made it to the club. Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 3 was the only exception to this rule. 
• The biggest disappointment of Bollywood this year was SRK’s Fan, which was a non-festival release. Despite Shah Rukh’s star power, the movie didn’t do expected business. The story could have been different had it been a festival release. 
• During the coming year, Aamir is going for a Diwali release and SRK for a Christmas one. 
• Obviously, each production house is backing these big projects wants to make as much as profit as possible.