The last three months have been lacklustre at the box office with the trade now banking heavily on Varun Dhawan’s Sui Dhaaga that releases along with Vishal Bhardwaj’s Pataakha on September 28.

The third quarter (July-August-September) also had films such as Mulk, Satyamev Jayate and Dhadak, which had decent runs at the box office.

Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi said: “It was an average quarter but there were small and big victories such as the Independence Day release Gold and Satyamev Jayate. Gold was expected to collect Rs 100 crore-plus at the box office but very few believed that Satyamev Jayate had the potential to do so; it went on to do business of almost Rs 90 crore.”

But films such as Soorma, a biopic of hockey player Sandeep Singh, failed to impress at the box office.

Directed by Shaad Ali and produced by Chitrangda Singh, Soorma starring Diljit Dosanjh and Taapsee Pannu was Shaad’s fourth flop in a row. His last, Ok Jaanu, was a bigger disaster at the box office, which was preceded by the duds Kill Dil and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.

While Taapsee received kudos, Diljit, industry insiders believe, needs to choose his Hindi films wisely if he wants to continue his run in Bollywood.

Though Manmarziyaan made a slow start at the box office with the first weekend crossing about Rs 14 crore, Taapsee garnered a lot of appreciation for her performance. Her last release Mulk, directed by Anubhav Sinha, turned out to be a sleeper hit aided by word-of-mouth publicity. The film went on to do business of over Rs 22 crore, impressive considering its budget.

This year, however, small films and lesser-known stars have exceeded expectations at the box office.

Exhibitor Raj Bansal said: “Look at the business of Stree. It has got the numbers one didn’t expect and it is still running strong at the box office. Stars we don’t expect much to deliver have done outstanding work and those we expect much from have failed us.”

Stree, starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor and directed by debutant Amar Kaushik, has not only received rave reviews but has also managed good numbers at the BO. But Rajkummar’s previous release Fanney Khan tanked, in spite of boasting of stalwarts such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anil Kapoor.

All three franchisees that released this quarter failed miserably. How one wished Aanand L. Rai had not returned with Happy Phir Bhaag Jayegi when the first had not really impressed anyone. Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3 was disappointing considering the first two were impressive.

Exhibitor Bansal said: “It has become fashionable to make biopics, franchisees and films on sports. One can expect a Munna Bhai MBBS sequel or Golmaal franchisee but how can someone come up with Yamla Pagla Dewaana 3 when the previous one was a flop?”