Film industry had a muted Jan-March, as star vehicles play truant

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Fighter ( ₹199.96 crore), Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya ( ₹81.61 crore) and Yodha ( ₹30.70 crore) - performed well below par. By contrast, in January-March of 2023, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan was a blockbuster success, becoming the first Hindi language film to cross the ₹500-crore mark at the domestic box office. Two Tamil films - Vijay’s Varisu and Ajith-starrer Thunivu - were also big hits, each earning over ₹170 crore.

Ranbir Kapoor’s Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar collected a cool ₹150 crore. “The Hindi film business has encountered challenges, particularly due to the absence of major star-driven titles. The impact is evident in both footfalls and box-office earnings.

Among the top 10 films of the year so far, only four Hindi films have managed to secure a spot. This scarcity of blockbuster Hindi releases (in January-March of 2024) has led to a decline in Hindi cinema's contribution to the domestic box office, dropping from 44% in 2023 to 36% in the current period," Devang Sampat, managing director, Cinepolis India, said. Sampat estimated box-office collections for the January-March quarter across languages to come in at ₹1,500 crore.

Of this, trade experts expect Hindi films to bring in ₹550-600 crore. In the same quarter last year, Hindi cinema alone accounted for ₹850 crore. To be sure, there have been a few notable exceptions in terms of commercial success.