It was a feel good year for Indian cinema, as people flocked to theatres and kept the money flowing in through 2018. Hindi films and Hollywood led the record growth.
Bollywood has reason to celebrate as the good showing comes six years after earnings lost their lustre in 2013, says Ormax Media’s annual box office report. During this time, there was just a small blip in 2017 from the dubbed version of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion in Hindi. But domestic net theatrical collections acquired a heft of 15% over the ₹3,035 crore it made in 2017, to touch ₹3,485 crore. Footfalls grew from 30.1 crore moviegoers in 2017 to 31.6 crore last year. The marquees were bright although the three Khans — Salman, Aamir and Shahrukh — delivered low performers such as Race 3, Thugs of Hindostan and Zero respectively.
Small, good films
The Bollywood box office regained its health from the second line, featuring a freshness of subjects in Stree , Raazi , Andhadhun , Badhaai Ho , and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety . “There was the odd biggie like Sanju and Padmavat, but 2018 was the year when the small film became big. Earning ₹80-130 crore each, small films would have clocked in ₹1,000 crore,” says Shailesh Kapoor, founder and CEO of Ormax Media.
Bollywood broke away from its dependence on big stars too, finding succour in Alia Bhatt, Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao. It also escaped the stranglehold of the opening weekend. Andhadhun, Badhaai Ho and Stree proved long distance runners. Vicky Kaushal starrer Uri: The Surgical Strike has hit the jackpot promising a spillover effect into 2019.
Hollywood, with all dubbed versions, made an all time high collection in 2018, just ₹35 crore short of ₹1,000 cr. Tamil films too brewed good growth, with net collection up from ₹1,191 crore in 2017 to ₹1,278 crore.
