South Indian Dubbed Films Contribute 31% to Hindi Cinema Earnings

In 2024, the Indian box office counted a high sum of revenue Rs 11,833 Cr making it the second-highest earning year after 2023, which saw collections of Rs 12,226 crore, cited from Ormax Media. It was a great year for regional film industries- although Bollywood faced challenges in driving collection.

Malayalam cinema has surpassed the Rs 1000-crore earnings mark. Its box office share increased to 10 percent in 2024 from just 5 percent in 2023. According to the report, footfalls for Malayalam films almost doubled that of the previous year, boosted by the success of films like Manjummel Boys and Aavesham, which had performed strongly not only in Kerala but also in neighboring states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Manjummel Boys became the first Malayalam film to gross more than Rs 150 crores, becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. During 2024, 26 Malayalam films had crossed the Rs 10-crore mark, nearly doubling the count from the previous year. This increase does not only show the success of the big movies but also mirrors the larger and more steady growth of the industry.

Hindi cinema fell by 4 percent in overall share of the box office in 2024, when box office earnings tumbled to Rs 4,679 crore from Rs 5,380 crore in 2023. Dubbed South Indian films accounted for 31 percent of these revenues and ensured that Hindi cinema continued to lead the pack in terms of language-specific box office contributions, even though its earnings were 13 percent down from the previous year. Just 6 original Hindi films reached Rs 100 crore in 2024, down sharply from 16 films that achieved this feat in 2023.

Pushpa 2: The Rule took the global box office by storm, grossing Rs 1,403 Crore. Its Hindi dubbed version accounted for a whopping Rs 889 Crore, which placed it as the highest-grossing Hindi film ever. Overall, the Telugu film had played a critical role in contributing to the upward trend of box office performance even as the sector saw a dip of 12 percent in footfalls compared with 2023, primarily led by high-ticket prices.

Other than Pushpa 2, Kalki 2898 AD and Stree 2 were the only films crossing the Rs 500 Crore at the India box office while Devara - Part 1, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and The Greatest of All Time were the other three films crossing the Rs 300 Crore mark in 2024.

Gujarati cinema had a great 2024 as footfalls rose by 57 percent and gross box office collections rose by 66 percent. Earnings from Gujarati films crossed the Rs 80 Crore mark for the first time. The success of Jhamkudi, which crossed Rs 20 Crore, contributed significantly to this spectacular performance at the box office.

Footfalls in cinemas declined by 6 percent in 2024 compared to 2023. Though box office collections were higher in 2024 than in 2022, foot traffic was still below 2022 levels. According to the report, this trend shows the growing reliance on increasing Average Ticket Prices to drive box office revenues in recent years.

The ATP had been Rs 87 in 2021, rose to Rs 119 in 2022, Rs 130 in 2023, and Rs 134 in 2024. Growth in ATP between 2023 and 2024 slowed down to just 3 percent, where in the last two years, the growth happened to be in double digits. The report says this shows stability in ticket prices.