The Indian box office has been witnessing a sluggish run over the past six months due to lack of robust content pipeline across genres as well as due to below par performance of some of the anticipated big ticket films. While March quarter was the weakest quarter of FY24, elections, heatwave and marquee cricket events further impacted content flow during April-May period till mid-June. However, cinemas are now hopeful of a turnaround in the coming days.

Karan Taurani, Senior Vice-President, Elara Capital estimates that the overall India box office declined by nearly 30-35 per cent in the first six months of the calendar year compared to the same period last year.

Regional box office

“Regional box office, which contributes 30-35 per cent to the overall collections, was sluggish due to delay in release of large ticket films. Only Malayalam segment did well, while Tamil and Telugu segment was muted. Hollywood content, which contributes 15-20 per cent to overall collections, has anyway not been strong during these months due to the impact of the strike of the Writers’ Guild. In terms of the Hindi film segment, there have been a lesser number of large ticket films released in the past few months and whatever large ticket films have come they have reported below par performance, which has been the biggest drag,” Taurani explained.

Flicks such as Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Maidaan and Chandu Champion have underperformed at the box office, as per analysts.

Dull show

A report by Nuvama Institutional Equities noted that the film industry had to brave a dull show in April and May largely due to a weak content slate, heatwave in vast swathes of the country , impact of general elections and cricket (IPL).“Our sense is this unengaging plot could soon take a turn given likely strong numbers for Kalki 2898 AD and Munjya. The plot shall deepen as the content slate picks up over coming months,” it added.

Also read: What’s behind the winning streak of the Malayalam film industry?

Starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, Kalki 2898 AD, is anticipated to make a “blockbuster” debut later this week. It has been reporting strong advance booking trends especially in international markets like the US and will be screened widely. 

Additionally, the content slate is expected to see a pick up across Hindi, regional and Hollywood genres. Upcoming movies include Sarfira, Deadpool & Wolverine, Bad Newz, Indian 2, Stree 2 and Khel Khel Mein among others.

“While some respite is expected in the July-September period, the October-December quarter could end up being the biggest quarter. So we are hopeful in the second half the momentum in the industry will pick up and the decline in collections will start getting arrested,” added Taurani. 

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