The year gone by has been a bad one with business down even if we include the south import Bahubali - The Conclusion which was a sensation and despite not being an outright Hindi film joined the list of the historic greats. The hope for next year is going to pinned on five films and if these fire like they should then the hope will be a reality as far as business is concerned.

These five in probable release order are Padmavati, Robot, Race 3, Thugs Of Hindustan and Zero. The five films are by the biggest films of 2017 and are also going to among the costliest Hindi films of all time, Indian films if talking about Robot as though its been made in Hindi its another import from the South, this time its the Tamil film industry whereas Bahubali - The Conclusion was the Telugu film indsutry.

If we compare 2017 then there were only two really big films Bahubali - The Conclusion and Tiger Zinda Hai the others were big films as had big stars but not the production values or canvas. This is where 2018 can be different as there are five genuine big films which can be called event films. The big five are listed below in likely release order.

Padmavati - This one is probably not at the levels as the others because it is not universal content with Mumbai and South likely to favour as is case with most Sanjay Leela Bhansali films but the film has been involved in a huge controversy which has taken the film to another level as far as anticipation is concerned. Its difficult to say if it will get a clean release across the country but if it does the film can take the sort of a start far above the level of the content and cast.

Robot 2.0 - This is the sequel to Einthiran (Robot in Hindi) and stars Rajnikant and Akshay Kumar. It is the most expensive single Indian film of all time. The Bahubali films combined have a higher cost but no single film has ever been made at the cost of 2.0. The scale of the film is far above anything seen in Hindi cinema. It is difficult to get it right for the Tamil and Hindi market but if it does then anything can happen with this film.

Race 3 - The film is the third installment in the Race series. Race 1 did well but Race 2 did not do so well as the series was not really upped with a similar cast to the first one but here the jump is big with Salman Khan coming on board. Eid went wrong in 2017 with Tubelight but it was not really commercial content and that is where Race 3 will not go wrong. The first Race films were in the thriller mode and that will have to modified or come with outstanding music as otherwise the genre comes unstuck and this one has far higher expectations than any thriller has grossed even in terms of inflation adjusted numbers.

Thugs Of Hindustan - Robot 2.0 may be the biggest Indian film but this is the biggest Hindi film ever with a huge canvas and scale. If a film had to named which had the best chance to beat benchmarks in 2018 then this would be the one. The last few Aamir Khan starrers Dangal and PK have been social dramas so the morning starts are always going to be less but this one will jump out of the traps. A Christmas or Eid release would have given even more confidence as Diwali is yet to produce those killer numbers but their always is a first.

Zero - This film has already had a small teaser and it is outstanding. Shahrukh Khan has had under performers in recent times with only star power pulling them through and for a Jab Harry Met Sejal even star power could not help as it was so bad. Zero sees Shahrukh Khan out of the urban yuppie image and in a film which looks an outright mass entertainer yet staying in the love story genre in which Shahrukh Khan excels in. the industry will have doubts about the midget angle but in terms of cinema today that will be the surprise element if the film entertains.