The curious case of mid-budget breakout hits
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : The Indian box office now belongs to large-scale spectacles like Baahubali, Pathaan and Kalki 2898 AD—films that go on to set new theatrical milestones. However, despite setting the box office on fire, they tend to remain low on profitability.
A business of ₹500-600 crore on an investment of ₹200-300 crore is a big fuss over a trifle. In that sense, trade experts believe horror comedy Stree 2, made with an investment of around ₹60 crore, is the rare mid-budget film to have really broken out and earned over ₹600 crore. Lower-scale and modestly budgeted breakout hits are nowadays few and far between in the country.
In 2023, Gadar 2 managed the feat, earning around ₹515 crore on a budget of ₹74 crore. “Mid-budget films don’t always have big stars, and it’s difficult to tell real mass-market stories without them. Stree 2 is the rare mid-budget film to have found audiences in urban as well as smaller centres, which is not usually the case.
Films that do well in the metros often fail in tier II and tier III markets," said Rahul Puri, managing director of Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas. He added there's a conversation going on in the industry about rationalizing costs. However, while the VFX for Stree 2 may have been put together well enough to suit the particular film, it may not be suitable for some bigger-scale movies.
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