At the box office, a dull first half punctuated by small moments of delight

According to trade experts, box-office collections across languages dropped to ₹3,000-3,500 crore in the first half of the year from ₹4,868 crore in the same period last year. The industry also saw almost no releases for about two months during the Lok Sabha election campaigning, and a recalibration by producers who have taken even fewer new films to the floors.

Bollywood, India’s biggest film industry producing mostly Hindi movies, is lagging by ₹400 crore-500 crore, according to trade experts.

But they also pointed to some green shoots that have emerged, thanks tosmall success stories such asCrew,Article 370,Srikanth andMunjya, signalling the gradual return of people to cinemas as long as compelling content is on offer.

“This has been one of the worst periods for us as far as business goes," said Amit Sharma, managing director of multiplex operator Miraj Cinemas. “It isn’t hard to imagine why the numbers look like this when two out of six months barely saw any releases."

Duds all across

The year started with an underperformer in Fighter, which ended up making ₹200 crore on a budget of over ₹250 crore.

Small hits such asTeri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (which earned ₹82.59 crore at the box office),Article 370 ( ₹77.08 crore),Shaitaan ( ₹148.54 crore) andCrew ( ₹81.56 crore) followed, before the Eid weekend fiascosBade Miyan Chote Miyan ( ₹59.17 crore) andMaidaan ( ₹52.29 crore) paved the way for a period of negligible releases.

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Shares of PVR Inox Ltd, the country’s largest multiplex operator, have fallen by 14% so far this year amid a relatively dull period for movies in India.

PVR plans to shut about 70 underperforming screens in the ongoing financial year, after exiting 85 in FY24. Its net screen additions are expected to be 50 this year.

While the Hindi market remained starved of content, the Hollywood pipeline remained dull too, with the exceptions ofKung Fu Panda 4 ( ₹36.47 crore),Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ( ₹106.42 crore) andKingdom of the Planet of the Apes ( ₹27 crore).

Content is king, even in small packages

But a notable trend this year has been the resurgence of smaller-scale and non-star films in Hindi cinema, said independent exhibitor Vishek Chauhan.

Along withCrew, titles that worked without big budgets or popular faces include the Rajkummar Rao-starrerSrikanth, which earned ₹30.69 crore, and breakout hitMunjya, a horror comedy that had clocked in ₹99.88 crore at last count.

“Last year had big-ticket blockbusters likePathaan,Gadar 2,Jawan andAnimal. But the fact that smaller films are throwing up good numbers this year shows that the audience is back for good post the pandemic and then it is up to the content," Chauhan said.

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To be sure, Malayalam cinema remained the big exception to the dismal run by most films across languages over the past six months.

With hits likeManjummel Boys,Aadujeevitham-The Goat Life, andAavesham, all of which crossed the Rs-100 crore mark within the first three months of 2024 , Malayalam cinema’s collections equalled 71% of its box-office receipts in 2023.

“It’s been a hard time but also one of re-setting for both producers and exhibitors. Especially theatre owners, who’ve tried various things over this period," said Rahul Puri, managing director of Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas.

From playing around with pricing tickets as low as ₹99 to re-launching older classics, Puri said the strategies have helped cinemas with much information on the tastes of their clientele.