Diwali and big-ticket Bollywood releases go hand-in-hand. Filmmakers are superstitious. If they cannot get days of national significance like Republic Day and Independence Day on which to release their big-budget, multi-star films, they choose festive occasions like Eid, Diwali and Christmas to do so. Like Rohit Shetty and Anees Bazmee are doing on Diwali next week with Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, respectively. But while Diwali has been auspicious for some, it has proved to be a most inopportune time for a film’s release for quite a few producers as well. This Diwali, the fireworks at the box office are expected to be provided in the mega clash between Ajay Devgn’s iconic cop Singham series and the third installment of Bhool Bhulaiyaa with Kartik Aryan in the lead. But here’s a look at some of the big banner releases that worked on Diwali and those that failed.

Like, for instance, in 2000, Mohabbatein with Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan released two days before Diwali and was a blockbuster. On the other hand, Mission Kashmir which released on the same day received mixed reviews but was considered a commercial success. Similarly, over the years, many other films turned out to be huge hits including Yash Chopra’s Veer Zara (2004), Ajay Devgn’s Son of Sardaar (2012), and Salman Khan’s Prem Rata Dhan Paayo (2015). Shah Rukh Khan has been successful as well over Diwali with Don (2006), Om Shanti Om (2007), Ra. One (2011) and Happy New Year (2014). 

But, Diwali had not been fortuitous for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya (2007) introducing Ranbir Kapoor, Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion (2008) and YRF’s Thugs of Hindostan (2018) that brought Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan together. All-time Diwali favourites include the funny Golmaal series, Housefull 4 and Krrish 3 (2013), and Tiger 3 (2023). 

Rohit Shetty, who is playing the Diwali card next week with Singham Again, had several successful Diwali releases including Golmaal Returns (2008), Golmaal 3 (2010), and Golmaal Again (2017), plus Sooryavanshi (2019) which was the biggest film that year.