Is the Hindi Film Industry heavily dependent on big budget event films?

Is the Indian Film Industry becoming too dependent on big-budget and event films (spectacles, franchise)? Going by the box office collection of Indian films across languages such as Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi and Hollywood, it is clear that the contribution of top ten films (big-budget, event films) to the total box office collection of Indian films in 2024 has jumped substantially from the pre-pandemic period.According to the data by media and entertainment research and consulting firm Ormax Media, the contribution of top ten films to the total box office collection of Indian films across languages has improved to 41% in 2024 from 28% in 2019.

This trend is more sharply observed when one takes into account the contribution of top ten films to the total collection of films in Hindi and other regional languages. According to Ormax Media data, the contribution of top ten films to the total collection of Hindi films rose to 70% in 2024 from 49% in 2019.

Girish Wankhede, a movie trade analyst, said, “There is considerable excitement for big-budget spectacles films in audiences. These films are not only value-for-money fares but they are also suitable as family entertainers.”

In the past few years, films which have worked at the box office are either big spectacles or events films which include franchise films. In 2024, the two key films which exemplified this trend are Pushpa 2: The Rule and Stree 2. One of the key reasons why big-budget spectacle films work at the box office is due to their production quality. Besides this, these films are largely experiential in nature. This means that they cannot be enjoyed outside the dark room theatre community theatre viewing.A research titled The Great Indian Box Office Divide done by Ormax Media observed, “The growing chasm between big-ticket, event films driven by scale, franchise, or spectacle and smaller story-led films is becoming a permanent feature of the Indian box office in the post-pandemic era.” The research further notes, “Box office trends from the past three years indicate that big-ticket films will continue to become bigger, while smaller films across languages will face increasing challenges in attracting theatrical audiences.”A key reason why the contribution of big-budget films is increasing year on year is the shift in the mindset of audiences. Today, watching films in theatres is no longer a weekend routine. It is a serious affair given the high cost of watching films in theatres. Audiences are clear about content-driven mid-and-small budget films. They watch these films on streaming platforms. Unless a mid-budget or a small-budget is a unique and exciting deal for audiences, they will not come to theatres to watch these films.

Rahul Dhyani, founder, Connplex Cinemas, a miniplex spread across Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Gujarat, said, “A big budget event film has big stars and right marketing. Awareness of such films is created much in advance. It can be as early as six months. This is a key reason audiences are excited to watch these films.” He added, “But it is important to understand that it is not necessary that all big-budget films work at the box office. I think content and right marketing play a crucial role. Today, a mid-budget film which has great content and is marketed well can easily be in the list of top ten contributing films in a year.”

A mid-budget which did not have stars and budget and worked well in 2024 was Munjya. The film was made on a budget of less than Rs 50 crore and it collected Rs 133 crore at the box office.

This trend of big-budget and event films making such a massive contribution to the total box office is a worry for industry observers. A key for this is in a year less than ten films qualify as big-budget events films. The research from Ormax Media pointed out, “Is this trend impeding the growth of the box office in the long run? Because there can only be so many big-ticket films releasing every year, given the paucity of stars.” The research recommended, “Franchises can be the alternative as is strongly suggested by their contribution to the top 10 films in 2024 (four of the top 10 Indian films in 2024 were franchise films. The number increases to five for Hindi cinema). Perhaps that’s the way to unlock box office growth, amidst the polarised audience behaviour.”

In a year, it must be noted that the Hindi film industry releases 400-500 films.