Southern films shine in 2024 led by Malayalam, Tamil hits

South Indian cinema sees 10-15% revenue growth as Hindi films struggle at the box office

- Lata Jha

Box-office collection for movies released across the four southern languages-Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam-in 2024 is likely to be 10-15% higher than last year's ₹5,110 crore, trade experts said. With hits like Manjummel Boys, Aadujeevitham-The Goat Life, Premala, Aavesham, Vashangalkku Shesham and Brahmyugam, Malayalam cinema witnessed an extraordinary year, with gross collections of ₹743 crore between January and June alone, higher than total collections for calendar years 2022 and 2023. Tamil cinema notched up impressive numbers too, with titles like Amaran, Maharaja and Vettaiyan standing out.

However, earnings for Telugu and Kannada cinema remained mostly subdued, even though the former has managed all-time hits with Pushpa 2: The Rule and Kalki 2898 AD, they said.