Indian box office roars to life, grossing Rs 5,053 cr in 2024 first half

Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD marries characters from the Mahabharata to a post-apocalyptic world. By the end of its theatrical run, Kalki, released on June 27 this year, is expected to gross Rs 786 crore at the Indian box office (BO) alone. Including overseas figures, the total should cross Rs 1,000 crore. This total includes taxes and trade shares and excludes revenues from streaming and television (TV).
 

“For four days after Kalki’s release, all 18 of our screens in Hyderabad saw 100 per cent occupancy,” says Amit Sharma, managing director of entertainment at Miraj Group, which operates 215 screens across India.
 

Then there is Aditya Sarpotdar’s Munjya, a horror-comedy heading towards Rs 124 crore in domestic theatrical collections alone after a dismal April and May. After a miserable April and May the movie business is finally picking up towards the end of June.
 

According to data exclusively shared with Business Standard by Ormax Media, the Indian BO stood at Rs 5,053 crore by the end of the first six months of 2024.

 

It should close the year with numbers similar to 2023, says Shailesh Kapoor, chief executive officer of Ormax Media. That means a domestic BO of about Rs 12,000 crore and nearly 940 million tickets sold by year-end.
 

Yet, why is there such a sense of doom in the movie business? The media is awash with reports of a tough 2024. Is there an unseen problem?
 

“There is no problem. Monthly variations in BO collections are more pronounced now compared to before,” says Kapoor.

The first quarter of this year saw strong performances from Shaitaan, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Hanu-Man, and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, among others.
 

“The first three months averaged a 27 per cent occupancy. The second quarter was tough due to the highly successful Indian Premier League (IPL), prompting many films to postpone their releases,” says Siddharth Bhardwaj, chief marketing officer and national sales head of UFO Moviez.
 

For example, Kalki postponed its May release to late June, primarily due to the IPL and general elections, analysts note. Films that were released, such as Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Maidaan, and others, failed to make an impact. 
 

“There are 52 weeks in a year, but with so many other events, only about 30 are good for a release,” says Jyoti Deshpande, 

president of media business at Reliance Industries. 
 

Its Jio Studios had a strong first quarter with releases like Shaitaan and Laapataa Ladies.
 

The narrowing window for successful releases means many interesting (and several big) films are now concentrated in the third and fourth quarters of 2024. These include Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again, Venkat Prabhu’s The Greatest of All Time, Vasan Bala’s Jigra, Sukumar’s Pushpa 2: The Rule, and Amar Kaushik’s Stree 2, among other Indian releases.
 

The Hollywood pipeline has also reopened after the writers’ strike, with films like Deadpool & Wolverine, Gladiator II, and Twisters expected this year.
 

“After Covid-19, audience preferences have shifted, and filmmakers have taken note. However, it takes time — anywhere from six to 24 months — to produce a film, depending on financial and creative investments. This (slew of releases in fits and starts) is the lag during changeover,” says Bhardwaj.
 

Sharma agrees, “Audiences returning to theatres is not the issue; that debate is over. They are coming back. The release calendar needs to be streamlined, which could take another 12-18 months.”
 

Analysts argue that the real challenge isn’t this quarterly bump, but market expansion. Ticket sales (900 million to a billion), 

domestic BO revenues (around Rs 12,000 crore), and total revenues (Rs 19,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore) have remained roughly the same in good years.
 

“Digital has squeezed wallets from theatrical and TV. But essentially revenues are just shifting from one wallet to the other. The goal is for films to make money on every platform; only then will the business grow,” says Deshpande.