The first quarter of 2024 has come to an end on a positive note with the release of Kalki 2898 AD, which completely changed the game for Indian cinema. The results have been much better than what most could think of. The first half of 2024 closes at just above the ₹5,000 crore gross mark at the Indian box office. 

When it comes to the box office business, June was the best month in terms of the collection, with the gross collections crossing over ₹1,200 crore (including estimated future collections of June releases). This is primarily due to the performance of Kalki 2898 AD across various markets, contributing to over 60% of the box office of the month.

Other major contributors include Munjya (Hindi), Maharaja (Tamil), Chandu Champion (Hindi), and Jatt & Juliet 3 (Punjabi).

Money matters

According to Ormax Media, the cumulative box office for January-June releases stands at ₹5,015 crore, which is 3% higher than the same period in 2023.

Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD is the highest-grossing film in the first half of 2024, with its box office collections being over three times of Fighter, which is the second-highest grosser of the year, just ahead of Hanu-Man. Kalki 2898 AD has contributed over 15% to the overall collections so far in the year. The total is at ₹772 crore.

Top 10 films

The list of top films which worked at Indian box office is a mix of all different languages. The top 10 list has three films each with Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam as their original language, and one Hollywood film.

Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter is at number two spot at ₹243 crore, followed by Hanu-Man ₹240 crore, Shaitaan at ₹178 crore, Manjummel Boys at ₹170 crore, Guntur Kaaram at ₹142 crore, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at ₹136 crore. Sharvari’s Munjya is also in the list at ₹121 crore, followed by Aadujeevitham at ₹104 crore and Aavesham at ₹101 crore.

The language share

When it comes to language share of the business, Hindi cinema has witnessed a slight reduction in its share of the India box office when compared to the same period last year, from 37% to 35%.

This is a result of no films managing to break out significantly at the box office so far this year, like Pathaan did, in the first half of 2023. In the first six months of 2024, Malayalam cinema has already grossed more than its entire collections in 2023.

The language share of the industry is 15%, which is thrice of its language share of 5% in the first half of 2023.

Telugu films have managed to hold onto their share, and Punjabi films (due to the performance of Jatt & Juliet 3 in June 2024) have increase their share. On the other hand, Tamil and Hollywood films have lost share (5% points each) when compared to the same period of last year, even as Kannada films have been marginalised this year, with just 1% share.

Great expectations

Just like last year, the second half of 2024 is expected to perform better than the first half, with a strong roster lined up across languages like Pushpa 2: The Rule, Stree 2, Singham Again, The Greatest Of All Time, and Devara: Part 1.

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