The Indian box office has crossed INR50 billion ($600 million) in gross collections for the first half of 2024, marking a 3% increase from the same period last year, according to a report from Ormax Media.
The report provides Indian local numbers and not worldwide grosses for the films.
Sci-fi epic “Kalki 2898 AD” emerged as the undisputed champion of the period, dominating the local box office with a $92.3 million gross. This sum contributed 15% of the total box office, significantly bolstering June’s performance and pushing the month’s collections past $144 million. Bollywood air force action film “Fighter” secured the second spot with $29 million locally, while “Hanu-Man,” the Telugu-language mythological superhero film, closely followed in third place with $28.7 million.
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Bollywood suspense thriller “Shaitaan” placed fourth locally with $21.3 million, followed by Malayalam-language survival drama “Manjummel Boys” with $20.3 million and Telugu-language action drama “Guntur Kaaram” with $17 million. The only Hollywood film in the top ten was “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which placed seventh with $16.2 million.
The other films in the top 10 are Bollywood horror comedy “Munjya” with $14.4 million, and Malayalam-language dramas “The Goat Life” and “Aavesham” with $12.4 million and $12 million respectively. This distribution reflects the pan-Indian appeal of films from various language industries. For example, “Kalki 2898 AD,” made in Telugu, was also released in several other languages including Hindi and Tamil. Notably absent from the Top 10 are Tamil films, which had secured three entries in the same period last year.
Language dynamics in the Indian film industry saw notable shifts during this period. Malayalam-language cinema made a remarkable leap, tripling its market share to 15% and already surpassing its entire 2023 gross within the first six months of 2024. Bollywood’s Hindi-language films, while still dominant, experienced a slight dip in market share, falling to 35% from 37% in the same period last year. The report attributes this to the absence of a breakout hit comparable to 2023’s “Pathaan.”
Telugu-language cinema remained steady with a 23% market share. Meanwhile, both Tamil-language and Hollywood releases each saw their market shares drop by five percentage points to 12% and 7% respectively compared to the previous year. Punjabi-language cinema increased its market share to 3%, buoyed by the success of “Jatt & Juliet 3” in June. Conversely, Kannada-language films saw a significant downturn, claiming just 1% of the market share in the first half of 2024.
The report anticipates a strong second half of the year, with a slate of high-profile releases across multiple languages. Titles such as “Pushpa 2: The Rule,” “Stree 2,” “Singham Again,” “The Greatest of All Time” and “Devara” are generating considerable buzz. If these films meet expectations, 2024’s overall box office performance could potentially match or exceed 2023’s record-breaking $1.4 billion total.
