Compared to last year, the trade experts and the industry watchers of Bollywood are quite happy with the performance in the first quarter of the year. After we have a Rs 300 crore hit, another entering Rs 100 crore and two more on the way. There have been hits and blockbusters in the period, and there is reason for trade experts to smile. And you have to thank movies like Padmaavat, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Raid for that

Popular trade analyst Taran Adarsh had recently tweeted, "Unlike previous years, the first quarter of 2018 has brought hope, cheer and optimism... #Padmaavat, #PadMan, #SonuKeTituKiSweety, #Raid and #Hichki have brought our smiles back... #Baaghi2 should also open big... Well begun indeed!" A great sentiment about the box office indeed, though we have to say that some of the movies mentioned here are not exactly profitable thanks to the fact that the production costs were high (which were later reduced to show the movie as 'profitable').

Anyway, let's look at the seven movies that were the highest grossing in the past three months.

#1 - Padmaavat

BO Collections:  Rs 301.87 crore

Despite the protests from Karni Sena, the fractured release and rescheduled release dates, Padmaavat rode on the wave of controversies to be the biggest hit of the year. It is also the first Bollywood movie not starring a Khan to gross more than Rs 300 crore at the box office. The movie stars Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in the lead.

#2 - Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety

BO Collections:  Rs 107.05 crore

While Padmaavat's success was predictable. who would would have thought that this Luv Ranjan movie would be a Rs 100 crore grosser? Starring Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha and Sunny Singh in the lead, the movie works on the same sentiment as Pyar Ka Punchnama but enjoyed a much bigger success than both the movies in the franchise.

#3 - Raid

BO Collections:  Rs 94.19 crore (still in theatres)

Continuing his good form from Golmaal Again, Ajay Devgn is ready to have another movie enter the Rs 100 crore club in just a matter of days. The movie rides on an interesting premise and exemplary performances from Devgn and a scene-stealing Saurabh Shukla.

#4 - Pad Man

BO Collections:  Rs 81.76 crore

Though Pad Man was appreciated for bringing menstruation in normal conversations, it broke Akshay Kumar's Rs 100 crore streak. But still it made more than Rs 80 crore at the box office and the producers insist that the movie has made profits.

#5 - Black Panther

BO Collections:  Rs 52.53 crore (Hollywood movie)

Like its global reign, Black Panther has also been warmly received in India with positive reviews and decent collections. We are waiting to see what Avengers: Infinity War will do once it releases on April 27.

#6 - Baaghi 2

BO Collections:  Rs 45.50 crore (The movie has just released, so collections will go higher)

Even though the movie is in theatres for just three days, Tiger Shroff's film has already broken a number of records, showing the audience's love for masala content. It has beaten Padmaavat to be 2018's highest grossing movie on Day 1. We have to wait and watch to see if Baaghi 2 becomes Tiger's first Rs 100 crore movie.

#7 - Hichki

BO Collections:  Rs 31.10 crore

Rani Mukerji's comeback movie is drawing in the family audiences, who are loving the movie's feel-good theme and Rani's performance.

Let's hope the rest of the year continues to make in profits in the same fervour as this period, if not better.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 01, 2018 05:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).