As 2024 draws to a close, it is important to reflect on the performance of the movies released this year. While the year has been bleak for the Hindi film industry, with many films failing at the box office and big-star movies receiving lukewarm responses. Defying the norms, many small-scale projects made a standout mark, taking India’s glory to a larger audience.
The first half of 2024 remained almost dry for the cinema halls, with only a few successes, whereas the second half brought a little light of hope for the industry courtesy of the roaring success of films like Stree 2 and Pushpa 2. The success of Hindi-dubbed South Indian films in 2024 again proves that audiences still want to witness the larger-than-life characters on the silver screen, and it’s not going to fade away anytime soon.
We got a buffet of movies, ranging from the comedy-horror Stree 2, which glued people to their screens, to the big-budget Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, which fizzled out faster than a damp firecracker. As we analyze successful juggernauts and those projects that misfired, here’s a breakdown of 2024 Bollywood’s success ratio.
Marking a significant drop in collections, the box office report for Hindi films has been a mixed bag in 2024. Unlike the previous year, which brought Bollywood out of its prolonged period of dry spell, 2024 witnessed a decline in collections by 25%. Whereas the overall box office too has seen a drop of 18.2%.
These numbers indicate that the year has been challenging for the industry. However, despite this, a few mid-budget movies did manage to shine at the box office, offering a valuable lesson to Bollywood that having an enormous budget doesn’t mean that content is likeable by mass audiences.
Mid-budget films like Munjya, Shaitaan, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, and Stree 2 proved to be successful. These films demonstrated that strong storytelling, clever budgeting, and better casting can lead to impressive returns.
The fourth installment in the Maddock Supernatural Universe and sequel to 2018’s Stree, Stree 2 emerged as the biggest hit of 2024, raking in ₹873.79 crore worldwide. Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor’s horror-comedy, made on a budget of only 50 cr, is a movie of a mix of scares and humour that connected with people across the nation.
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Kartik Aaryan, Vidya Balan, and Madhuri Dixit-starrer horror-comedy film was met with roaring applause at the box office. With Vidya Balan reprising her iconic role of Manjulika, the film delivered a stellar Rs 278.42 crore at the domestic market and ₹417.51 crore globally. Though the movie clashed with Singham Again on Diwali, it couldn’t affect its performance, proving again the genre’s popularity among audiences.
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This small-budget movie produced on a budget of 30 cr, earned ₹132.13 crore at the box office, becoming a surprise hit. The third installment in the Maddock Supernatural Universe, Munjya is another low-budget horror-comedy that impressed audiences.
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Ajay Devgn’s Shaitaan centers around black magic and went on to impress viewers. The movie earned ₹211.06 crore worldwide, showing that audiences are now more open to watching such genres in theaters.
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While Indians loved horror-comedy, comedy-romance also remained the first choice of moviegoers. Movies like Crew and Bad Newz were widely enjoyed at the theaters and did decent business, earning over 100 cr each. Although the scripts are flawed, these movies attracted audiences because of their songs, popularity of the actors, and, of course, for some laughs.
Other mid-budget movies like Crew, made on a budget of 75 crore, was successful at the box office and earned ₹157.08 crore worldwide. Vicky Kaushal’s Bad Newz, although it wasn’t very well received, made ₹115.74 crore globally. The comedy-romance movie had a budget of 80 cr. Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon’s science fiction romantic comedy, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, had a budget of ₹75 cr and earned a lifetime collection of ₹133.64 crore.
The 2024 box office report offers valuable lessons for the industry. The success of mid-budget films over several big-budget films proves that there is a shift in interest, and even star-studded movies like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha cannot compete with films that are driven by good, compelling stories.
Movies including Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Chandu Champion, Maidaan, Sarfira, Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, Khel Khel Mein, Vedaa, and Yodha that had a budget between 80-100 cr failed to make a mark and tanked at the box office. These flops serve as a reminder to the makers of the importance of prudent budgeting and smart storytelling.
Audiences are increasingly embracing films with compelling narratives over those relying solely on star power, and Singham Again is a good example of what not to do with a movie. Made on a high budget of ₹350 cr, it could register a lifetime collection of ₹389.64 crore. The most expensive Hindi movie of 2024, Singham Again is the fifth installment of Shetty’s Cop Universe franchise.
Directed by Rohit Shetty, the action-drama movie starred Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, and Deepika Padukone, among others. The star cast couldn’t help the poorly written script to elevate the film. With the film’s screenplay being clumsy, Singham Again was criticised for forcing Ramayana into the story and for having no logical action sequences.
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Hrithik Roshan , Anil Kapoor, and Deepika Padukone’s aerial action thriller lived up to the hype and registered a lifetime collection of ₹344.46 crore, making it the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024. However, the move was made on a high budget of ₹250 crore, and the total revenue didn’t even cover the production expense. Directed by Siddharth Anand, the film suffered from a slow pace, and the script was not up to the mark.
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Massive budgets and star power can’t guarantee success for a movie. This year’s most expensive Hindi movie, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, made on a budget of ₹350 crore, flopped miserably at the box office. Starring Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Alaya F, Manushi Chillar, Prithviraj Sukumar, Sonakshi Sinha, and others, it could only earn ₹102.16 crore. The movie’s poor storytelling and lackluster execution led to its failure.
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Alia Bhatt’s much-hyped Jigra only grossed Rs 30.69 crore, despite Alia and the other cast’s stellar performance. It could not resonate with the audience due to its weak plot. Whereas Akshay Kumar’s Sarfira suffered from weak execution and stiff competition from Stree 2, managing to earn just Rs 22.13 crore. The movie, a remake of the 2020 Tamil film Soorarai Pottru, highlights that audiences are increasingly rejecting remakes now.
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Pan-India movies still continue to dominate the domestic box office market. As films are no longer confined to regional appeal, this year saw a rise in South Indian movies stealing the limelight and becoming the audience’s go-to choice. Telugu films not only wowed audiences but also exceeded Bollywood’s biggest blockbusters.
Pushpa 2’s Hindi version collection now stands at Rs. 689.4 crore, while it has crossed the 1500 mark in the international market. The movie’s engaging storyline, mass appeal, and foot-tapping music made it a sensational release of the year.
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Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan starrer sci-fi Kalki 2898 AD also performed well in Hindi and grossed Rs 294.25 crore, setting new standards for the genre.
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Telugu superhero movie Hanu-Man remains the first revered success story of 2024, showing people want to see movies that are deeply rooted in Indian culture. The film’s Hindi business was Rs 52.29 crore.
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Low-budget films like Laapataa Ladies, made on a budget of 4-5 cr, did a decent business of ₹25 cr, emerging as one of the biggest surprise hits of the year. Debut filmmakers like Kunal Khemu’s comedy Madgaon Express impressed audiences as it brought back the old Bollywood comedy charm on the screen. These small movies, which received a bigger positive response, promise more opportunities for films like them.
Whereas Randeep Hooda’s impressive performance in the biopic Swatantrya Veer Savarkar left everyone unimpressed. Even the patriotic undertones couldn’t make an impact and draw the audience to the cinema halls.
Therefore, looking at the box office records of Bollywood this year, it is mostly mixed bags and rather lukewarm, with most films performing below average. Overall, the collections have declined, with the success ratio of big-budget films attributing to only 10%, while the mid-budget movies had a higher success rate of somewhere near 20-30%. These numbers indicate that mid-budget and dubbed movies were most liked and successful among the audience this year.
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