MUMBAI: With gross box office of Rs. 11,833 crores, 2024 became the second-best year of all time at the India box office, trailing only the collections of 2023 (Rs. 12,226 crores).
Bollywood: Hindi cinema saw a decline in 2024, with collections dropping from Rs. 5,380 crores in 2023 to Rs. 4,679 crores, and its box office share reducing by four percentage points to 40%.
Notably, 31% of Hindi cinema’s collections came from dubbed versions of South Indian films. If only original Hindi language films are considered, the decline in box office was a steep 37%. Despite ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ (Hindi) and ‘Stree 2’ becoming the highest-grossing films of all time at the Hindi box office, Hindi cinema’s overall collections in 2024 declined by 13%, falling below the 2019 mark, highlighting a disproportionate reliance on a few top-performing titles.
‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ (Hindi) and ‘Stree 2’ contributed a staggering Rs. 1587 crores
(34%) to Hindi cinema’s total collections, highlighting the increasing reliance of Hindi cinema on tentpole films. Only six original Hindi language films were able to gross more than Rs. 100 crores this year, compared to 16 in 2023.
Malayalam cinema doubled its box office share from 5% in 2023 to 10% in 2024, surpassing the Rs. 1,000 crores mark for the first time ever. Meanwhile, Tamil and Telugu maintained their box office share with marginal differences compared to 2023. ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ was the highest-grossing film of 2024, with a gross box office of Rs. 1,403 crores.
Its dubbed Hindi version achieved Rs. 889 crores, setting a new record as the highest-grossing ‘Hindi’ film of all time. ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and ‘Stree 2’ were the only films to surpass the Rs. 500 crores mark at the India box office. ‘Devara – Part 1’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ and ‘The Greatest Of All Time’ were the other three films to gross above Rs. 300 crores in 2024.
Telugu: With a marginal growth compared to the previous year, 2024 became the best-ever year for Telugu cinema at the domestic box office, and also the third consecutive year in which Telugu cinema has crossed the Rs. 2,000 crores mark. Amidst the increase in ticket prices of tentpole films, the footfalls in Telugu Cinema witnessed a decline, of nearly three crores (12%), highlighting that the increase in ATP was the driver for higher box office collections for Telugu cinema in 2024.
While ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ became the highest-grossing Hindi film ever in its dubbed version, its Telugu collections fell significantly short of the recordholder ‘RRR’. However, ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ and ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ now rank among the Top 3 highest-grossing films in Telugu cinema, only behind ‘RRR’. ‘Amaran’ (Telugu) is the only dubbed film to feature in the top 10 list of Telugu cinema over the past two years
Hollywood: Hollywood experienced the steepest de-growth in 2024, with its gross box office collections dropping by 17% compared to 2023. 2024 was the first year since 2015 that the industry failed to surpass the Rs. 1,000 crore mark at the India Box Office (excluding the pandemic-affected years 2020-21).With footfalls at just 3.8 crores, 2024 marked one of Hollywood’s weakest years in India in the last decade. For the second consecutive year, no Hollywood film crossed the Rs. 200 crores mark in India, with only three films surpassing Rs. 100 crores. All the Top 10 films being franchise films underscores Hollywood’s reliance on established brands for success in the Indian market, mirroring international trends.
Gujarati cinema recorded an impressive 66% increase over 2023, which is only behind the growth of Malayalam cinema.
Malayalam: Malayalam cinema achieved its best-ever performance in 2024, achieving the Rs. 1,000 crores milestone at the India Box Office for the first time ever. The industry’s footfalls also nearly doubled (88% growth) compared to 2023, driven by the success of films like ‘Manjummel Boys’ and ‘Aavesham’, which performed well not only in Kerala but also in neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.Manjummel Boys became the first Malayalam film to cross the Rs. 150 crores mark, earning the distinction of being the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. 26 Malayalam films crossed the Rs. 10 crores mark, doubling the count from 2023. This highlights the industry’s success beyond just the top films, showcasing broader and more consistent growth.
Footfalls: 2024 registered 88.3 crores (883 Million) footfalls, reflecting a 6% decline from 2023. Footfalls in 2024, were lower than the last two years, and continue to remain lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Average Ticket Price: The ATP saw a marginal growth of 3% over 2023, from Rs. 130 to Rs. 134, compared to double-digit growth over the last two years, indicating more stability in ticket prices in 2024. The surge in ATP in Kannada and Telugu languages was driven by the implementation of a 2% cess on movie tickets in Karnataka, and the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana permitting higher ATPs for tentpole films for their opening weeks, respectively.
