Industry
Film industry had a muted Jan-March, as star vehicles play truant
Summary
- By contrast, in January-March of 2023, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan was a blockbuster success, becoming the first Hindi language film to cross the ₹500-crore mark at the domestic box office
- Two Tamil films - Vijay’s Varisu and Ajith-starrer Thunivu - were also big hits, each earning over ₹170 crore
New Delhi: Films released across languages fared poorly at the Indian box office in January-March, hurt by an absence of star-studded movies, with only a handful of titles managing to pull audiences to the theatres.
This muted show is in sharp contrast to last year, when star vehicles saw movie-goers streaming into the cinemas, setting the cash registers ringing. Domestic box-office revenues have plummeted by an estimated 20-30% year-on-year in the three months through March, trade experts said. The quarter saw few star vehicles arriving in cinemas in the first place, and those that did - like Fighter ( ₹199.96 crore), Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya ( ₹81.61 crore) and Yodha ( ₹30.70 crore) - performed well below par.
By contrast, in January-March of 2023, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan was a blockbuster success, becoming the first Hindi language film to cross the ₹500-crore mark at the domestic box office. Two Tamil films - Vijay’s Varisu and Ajith-starrer Thunivu - were also big hits, each earning over ₹170 crore. Ranbir Kapoor’s Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar collected a cool ₹150 crore.
“The Hindi film business has encountered challenges, particularly due to the absence of major star-driven titles. The impact is evident in both footfalls and box-office earnings. Among the top 10 films of the year so far, only four Hindi films have managed to secure a spot. This scarcity of blockbuster Hindi releases (in January-March of 2024) has led to a decline in Hindi cinema's contribution to the domestic box office, dropping from 44% in 2023 to 36% in the current period," Devang Sampat, managing director, Cinepolis India, said.
Sampat estimated box-office collections for the January-March quarter across languages to come in at ₹1,500 crore. Of this, trade experts expect Hindi films to bring in ₹550-600 crore. In the same quarter last year, Hindi cinema alone accounted for ₹850 crore.
To be sure, there have been a few notable exceptions in terms of commercial success. Ajay Devgn’s horror film Shaitaan earned ₹137.72 crore), political drama Article 370 made ₹81.02 crore and Malayalam film Manjummel Boys collected ₹124.45 crore.
The Hollywood slate, however, remained impacted by the writers and actors’ strike last year over fair compensation, with only science-fiction film Dune: Part Two ( ₹26.71 crore) and animation comedy Kung Fu Panda 4 ( ₹25.57 crore) standing out, to some extent.
Conceding that no film so far has managed to match the euphoria of last year, independent exhibitor (single screen owner) Vishek Chauhan said the disappointment also arises from the fact that ₹500 crore is now the new benchmark. “It will be good news if theatres can manage to break even this quarter," he said. The other cause of concern is the dip in Hollywood box office, particularly the performance of superhero films and those belonging to the Marvel universe that continue to see diminishing returns, Chauhan added.
Last year, Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan and Jawan both earned more than ₹500 crore each in domestic box office, besides Sunny Deol's Gadar 2 and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal.
The lack of a steady release of big-star films may be attributed to the slump in OTT pricing, film trade experts said. Given that many filmmakers have not been able to lock deals with streaming platforms at the desired rates, and do not see adequate recovery from theatrical business alone, they are neither making new announcements nor pushing ready films to the cinemas. The OTT bubble that has burst is resulting in services asking for acquisition prices to be linked to box-office performance of movies, instead of fat upfront fees.
Yet, several industry experts remain hopeful about the upcoming quarter. Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director, PVR INOX Ltd, pointed to the strong line-up of films from various languages, such as Maidaan, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kalki 2898 AD, The Fall Guy, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Baby John, Chandu Champion that will likely excite viewers.
“Reflecting on the success of smaller-scale films in the fourth quarter of this year, we hold a positive outlook on the forthcoming quarter, particularly in observing the performance of mid-range films. Despite the absence of star-driven releases, the upcoming films are poised to adapt to evolving trends and audience preferences. There is a prevailing belief that the upcoming quarter will surpass the performance of the current one," Ashish Saksena, chief operating officer, cinemas, BookMyShow, said.
