Brahmāstra To Darlings, 6 Bollywood Movies That Succeeded Despite Being Boycotted In 2022

For the longest we remember, Boycott Bollywood has been the flavour of the season. There’s barely any movie left that could escape from the wrath of #boycotttrend on Twitter. Do we really need to boycott every movie? Do we really need a new hashtag every day to diss Bollywood? No. This only adds more popularity to Bollywood movies and might be a new marketing strategy for some films. Chuckles.

Also read: Here’s What The Industry Said About The Boycott Bollywood Trend.

As 2022 ends in just a few days, we decided to look at films that were a part of the boycott trend and still succeeded.

1. Gangubai Kathiawadi

Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi was a hit at the box office and the collection of the movie was estimated at around ₹200 crores. It narrated the tale of Gangubai from Mumbai’s Kamathipura. The plot of the film was picked from crime journalist Hussain Zaidi’s book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai. We had many scenes in Gangubai that brazenly crushed patriarchy in our society and some that would make us sick to the stomach. Alia gave us an impressive performance and she received a lot of accolades for it.

2. Brahmāstra

Brahmāstra was among the most anticipated films of the year. The sci-fi drama was Ayan Mukherjee’s passion project and was boycotted for many bizarre reasons, including Ranbir’s food preferences, Karan Johar, and Alia’s comment that said, “If you don’t like me, don’t watch me.” The overall box office collection of the film was around ₹250 crores. and it managed to attract the audience too.

3. Gehraiyaan

Helmed by Shakun Batra, the movie had an OTT release on Prime Video. It tried to capture the complexities of relationships through various lenses. The movie touches upon “relationships in their various forms, navigating through complex modern relations, adulting, letting go, and taking control of one’s life.” Gehraiyaan welcomed a lot of opinions on social media and was lauded for its realistic portrayal of anxiety. Even though the movie didn’t do well at the box office and was boycotted before its release, it received decent reviews.

4. Darlings

Bollywood movies that represent female rage are rare, and Darlings was one such shining example. It featured Alia Bhatt, Vijay Varma, and Shefali Shah, and we witnessed a great story with brilliant performances. The movie had decent box office numbers and was boycotted for a lot of reasons, but it welcomed many positive reviews. This is also credited because of its OTT release.

5. Laal Singh Chaddha

You can say Laal Singh Chaddha was mass boycotted on Twitter. And if there were awards for the top boycotted movie of 2022, this one would go first. The movie was a remake of the Hollywood flick Forrest Gump and was despised the most by the audience. From calling out Aamir’s accent to trolling Kareen Kapoor, LSG was a target of Twitter lunatics. But the OTT release garnered a lot of positive reviews, proving social media trends are not always true.

6. Dobaaraa

Dobaaraa is yet another classic example of how hate took over logic! Directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dobaaraa was a remake of the Spanish film Mirage. Starring Taapsee Pannu in the lead role, the movie was largely affected by the boycott trend, but soon the audience praised it for executing the plot line so well.