Re-releases save the day as Bollywood absent from theatres in 2024

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.

- Lata Jha

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.

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).

"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.