The India box office recorded its second highest ever year in 2024 with takings of $1.36bn (INR118.3bn), down 3.2% on the record-breaking $1.42bn (INR122.3bn) of 2023, led by South Indian features Pushpa 2: The Rule and Kalki 2898 AD.
A year-end report from Ormax Media detailed that Hindi-language cinema faced challenges, losing a 4% market share to record total box office of $543m (INR46.8bn) in 2024. Notably, 31% of Hindi cinema’s collections came from dubbed versions of South Indian films and if only original Hindi-language were considered, the decline in box office was a steep 37%.
Conversely, Malayalam cinema doubled its box office share from 5% in 2023 to 10% in 2024, surpassing the INR10bn ($116m) mark for the first time ever. Meanwhile, Tamil and Telugu maintained their box office share with marginal differences compared to 2023.
Hollywood titles experienced the steepest decline, with takings dropping by 17% compared to 2023. Box office gross of $109m from US tentpoles was shored up by Mufasa: The Lion King and Deadpool & Wolverine, the only titles to make the top 15 films in India last year.
The highest-grossing film of 2024 was Telugu-language blockbuster Pushpa 2: The Rule, directed by Sukumar and starring Allu Arjun in the title role. It took $163m (INR14bn) following its release on December 5, of which its Hindi version collected $103m (INR8.9bn), setting a new record as the highest-grossing ‘Hindi’ film of all time.
Pushpa 2, Telugu action sci-fi Kalki 2898 AD and Hindi horror comedy Stree 2 were the only films to surpass INR5bn ($57.7bn) at the India box office. Telugu action drama Devara - Part 1, Hindi horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Tamil action thriller The Greatest Of All Time were the other three films to gross above INR3bn ($34.6bn) in 2024.
Average ticket price saw a small increase of 3% over 2023, from ₹130 ($1.50) to ₹134 ($1.55), compared to double-digit growth over the last two years, indicating more stability in ticket prices in 2024. The meant that while box office remained stable, admissions declined 6% year-on-year to 883 million – still 14% lower than pan-pandemic 2019.
India box office: top 15 films 2024
1. Pushpa 2: The Rule / $163m (INR14bn)
2. Kalki 2898 AD / $90m (INR7.76bn)
3. Stree 2 / $81 (INR6.98bn)
4. Devara – Part 1 / $40.2 (INR3.47bn)
5. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 / $36.1 (INR3.11bn)
6. The Greatest Of All Time / $35.4 (INR3.05bn)
7. Singham Again / $34.5 (INR2.97bn)
8. Amaran / $30m (INR2.58bn)
9. Fighter / $28.2 (INR2.43bn)
10. Hanu-Man / $27.8 (INR2.4bn)
11. Mufasa: The Lion King / $20.7 (INR1.78bn)
12. Shaitaan / $20.7 (INR1.78bn)
13. Vettaiyan / $20m (INR1.74bn)
14. Manjummel Boys / $19.8 (INR1.7bn)
15. Deadpool & Wolverine / $18.6 (INR1.6bn)
Source: Ormax Media
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