Business News/ Industry / Re-releases save the day as Bollywood remains absent from theatres in 2024
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New Delhi: Bollywood couldn’t have been more conspicuous by its absence in movie theatres this year, with nearly the full April-June quarter going by without any big releases. The industry was hit hard by the Lok Sabha elections and IPL (Indian Premier League) between April and May, and just a handful of titles attracted audiences to the theatres.
New Delhi: Bollywood couldn’t have been more conspicuous by its absence in movie theatres this year, with nearly the full April-June quarter going by without any big releases. The industry was hit hard by the Lok Sabha elections and IPL (Indian Premier League) between April and May, and just a handful of titles attracted audiences to the theatres.
Trade experts estimate Hindi film revenue in 2024 to be at least 30-40% lower than in 2023, and the overall Indian movie box office, across languages, likely flat or 10-15% lower this year. Last year, the movie industry earned ₹12,000 crore in earnings, according to consulting firm Ormax.
Trade experts estimate Hindi film revenue in 2024 to be at least 30-40% lower than in 2023, and the overall Indian movie box office, across languages, likely flat or 10-15% lower this year. Last year, the movie industry earned ₹12,000 crore in earnings, according to consulting firm Ormax.
There is more bad news for Bollywood: at ₹72 crore, the Hindi-dubbed version of Telugu action film Pushpa 2: The Rule has made for the second highest opening day ever in the Hindi-speaking belt, beating many original Hindi language films. In terms of total collections, it has beaten all original Hindi language hits, and is now the highest grosser in the Bollywood market.
The only Bollywood titles to have made a mark this year are horror comedy Stree 2 ( ₹627.02 crore), Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 ( ₹278.42 crore) and Singham Again ( ₹268.35 crore). The numbers have been sourced from Bollywood Hungama.
On the other hand, success stories in the Tamil and Malayalam industries are quite a few—Amaran (Tamil, ₹216 crore), Manjummel Boys (Malayalam, ₹153 crore), Vettaiyan (Tamil, ₹143 crore), Aavesham (Malayalam, ₹97 crore), Premalu (Malayalam, ₹75 crore), and Maharaja (Tamil, ₹72 crore).
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“The box office is currently tracking similar to or slightly lower than last year’s numbers," said Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director, PVR Inox Ltd.
He added that 2024 has seen only three notable Hindi language hits this year and not much on the Hollywood front either. In comparison, four big films crossed the ₹500-crore mark in 2023—Pathaan, Jawan, Animal and Gadar 2. Further, “there was ample support from Hollywood titles like Oppenheimer, Barbie and others", Bijli said.
The box office lost out on quite a few weeks of business especially in the first quarter of FY25, Bijli added, thanks to the elections and IPL. Especially the former, a one-off event, led to the deferment of several films, including Pushpa 2, which was pushed to December. Other films slated for the end of the year were moved to 2025 to avoid clashes, Bijli said.
In fact, multiple film productions were stalled and theatrical releases delayed in 2024 amid steep star fees and the fear of fickle audiences, as the industry struggled to find a way forward after many big-budget films like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan ( ₹59.17 crore in box office collections), Maidaan ( ₹52.29 crore) and others bit the dust.
The Bull, an action film starring Salman Khan, has been stalled indefinitely, while Ranveer Singh exited Rakshas, which was to be directed by Prashant Varma of Telugu hit HanuMan. Among other titles, the sequel to Tiger Shroff’s Ganapath and another action film of his, Rambo, have made no progress.
“The number of films released are a function of the number of films that get made and in the last 18-24 months, the production output has been controlled," film producer Tanuj Garg said. “The industry is hopeful that things will ease in 2025, with more and more deserving films finding acceptance at the box office. The tolerance for disproportionately high costs has gone down and everyone is looking to operate within viable economics."
Read more: Bollywood projects in limbo amid financial challenges, unpredictable box office
The other hope is that with the Jio Star merger having wrapped up, the production machinery, too, will become more active next year as the entity green-lights projects and over-dependence on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to acquire digital rights for a film to go on floors, will reduce.
Old is gold
One notable trend that played out this year was the surprising success of older films that were re-released at the box office. Envisioned as space fillers to keep footfalls coming in, multiple old titles, including some that had proven unsuccessful upon their initial release, found new audiences.
“The re-release trend gained substantial momentum in 2024, emerging as a strategic response to the scarcity of major new titles. The nostalgia factor played a crucial role in drawing audiences back to theatres for films like Tumbbad, Rockstar, Veer Zaara, and Kal Ho Naa Ho," said Devang Sampat, managing director of Cinepolis India.
In its re-release, Rockstar made around ₹10 crore at the box office while Veer Zaara earned ₹5 crore.
For the company, re-releases contributed approximately 1 million admissions and accounted for about 3% of the annual box office revenue, highlighting the growing relevance of re-releases in sustaining cinema attendance, Sampat said.
What's in store for 2025?
To be sure, while 2023 was an outlier with extraordinarily high collections, industry experts are hoping for a repeat in 2025.
Amit Sharma, managing director of Miraj Entertainment, which operates multiplex theatres, said it would be a year not of big tentpole films, but several sequels and mid-budget titles. “We are expecting more successes in the ₹100-200 crore range. Also, the distribution strategy seems better next year with releases more evenly spread out instead of bunching up only for public holidays," Sharma said.
Outlining the importance of sequels, Stree 2 director Amar Kaushik said with the second part, the team not only revisited the world introduced by Stree but amplified it to new heights.
“Stree being the first successful film in the horror-comedy universe, Stree 2 has broken all boundaries and taken the success of its predecessor to a whole new level," Kaushik added.
Read more: Southern language box office in 2024 may rise 15%, lifted by Malayalam flicks
The outlook for Hindi cinema in the upcoming year looks promising, with several releases set to make an impact at the box office, agreed Ashish Saksena, chief operating officer-cinemas of entertainment platform BookMyShow.
“Films like Vicky Kaushal’s Chhaava, a revenge drama; Sky Force, an aviation-centric patriotic saga with Akshay Kumar in the lead; Shahid Kapoor’s action thriller Deva; and Raid 2, Ajay Devgn’s sequel to the crime thriller, are all expected to generate excitement," Saksena said.
Additionally, fans of South Indian cinema have much to look forward to with Rajnikanth’s Coolie and Ajith’s Vidaamuyarchi.
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