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South Indian films, headed by Pushpa 2: The Rule and Kalki 2898 AD, topped India’s box office in 2024, making up for a decline in receipts for Hindi-language cinema, according to data from Mumbai-based Ormax Media.
Total box office for the year was the second highest on record – coming in at $1.38BN (Rs118.3BN), a 3.2% decline on $1.42BN (Rs122.3BN) in 2023, which is the highest year on record. Hindi films took a 40% share of total box office, followed by Telugu films with a 20% share, Tamil with 15%, Malayalam with 10%, Hollywood with 8% and Kannada-language films with 3%.
However, total box office for Hindi films decreased by 13% from $625.3M (Rs53.8BN) in 2023 – a year topped by Shah Rukh Khan hits Jawan and Pathaan – to $543.9M (Rs46.8BN) in 2024. Ormax noted that 31% of Hindi cinema’s collections came from dubbed versions of South Indian films: “If only original Hindi-language films are considered, the decline in box office was a steep 37%.”
Telugu action thriller Pushpa 2: The Rule was the highest-grossing film of 2024, with gross box office of $163M (Rs14BN). Its dubbed Hindi version achieved $103M (Rs8.9BN), setting a new record as the highest-grossing ‘Hindi’ film of all time.
Telugu action sci-fi Kalki 2898 AD came in second with $90M, followed by Hindi horror comedy Stree 2 with $81M, Telugu action drama Devara – Part 1 with $40M, another Hindi horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 with $36M, and Tamil action thriller The Greatest Of All Time with $35M.
Box office for Hollywood films declined 17% to $109.4M (Rs 9.4BN) and an 8% market share in 2024, compared to $132.4M (Rs11.4BN) and a 9% share the previous year. Mufasa: The Lion King was the highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year, grossing $20.7M and ranking at number 11 in the overall year-end chart.
Malayalam cinema had a strong year, doubling its market share from 5% in 2023 to 10% in 2024, and surpassing the Rs10BN ($116M) mark for the first time. Survival thriller Manjummel Boys was the biggest Malayalam film, grossing $19.8M. Meanwhile, Tamil & Telugu maintained their box office share with marginal differences compared to 2023.
As in 2023, higher average ticket prices kept box office buoyant last year, as admissions fell to 883 million, a 6% decline compared to 2023 and a worrying 14% lower than the pre-pandemic year of 2019. The average ticket price was Rs134 in 2024, similar to Rs130 in 2023, but 26% higher than the Rs106 average in 2019.
