Indian Box Office collections climb to all-time highs in 2023

Indian box office collections breached the ₹12,000 crore-mark (about $1.44 billion) last year, a report released this week said.

Film collections jumped 15% year-on-year to ₹12,226 crore, surpassing the pre-pandemic high of ₹10,948 crore, the report released by media consulting firm Ormax Media said.

Hindi cinema sprang back in 2023 after a lull with a commanding 44% share of the box office pie during the year, the report said.

It surpassed the ₹5,000 crore-milestone for the first time, and reclaimed its pre-pandemic market share, increasing from 33% in 2022 to match the 44% share in 2019.

While over 1,000 films were released in 2023, the top 10 grossers contributed about 40% of total collections during the year.

Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan led the pack with ₹734 crore, followed by Animal, Pathaan, and Gadar 2, each exceeding the ₹600 crore-mark individually.

The top four films were all Hindi-language productions, marking a significant shift in the trend from last year when South Indian films topped the list, including pan-India blockbusters such as KGF Chapter 2, RRR, and Kantara.

This year, Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire, Jailer, and Leo all crossed the ₹400 crore-mark.

Despite a box office boom, footfalls remained a concern, growing only 6% when compared with 2022 and falling short of the pre-pandemic peak of ₹103 crore in 2019.

Average ticket prices (ATP) saw a healthy 9% increase from ₹119 to ₹130, primarily driven by the increased contribution of higher-ATP Hindi films to the overall box office.

While Tamil and Telugu cinema held onto their market share with modest growth, Hollywood and Kannada films saw a dip, with their share shrinking from 12% to 9% and 8% to 3%, respectively.

Punjabi cinema defied the trend, with films such as Carry On Jatta 3 and Mastaney seeing a 60% surge in box office collections last year when compared with the previous year.