After a stellar 2023, a dry quarter ahead for Bollywood

The Hindi film industry is likely to have recorded a 30 35% increase in total box office collections in 2023, signalling much better times than the two years after covid when neither star vehicles nor mid budget cinema was finding acceptance. However, the new year is likely to bring a fresh set of challenges with only one big tentpole Hindi film, Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone starrer , scheduled for release, as far as the first quarter goes.

Top stars like Shah Rukh and Salman Khan will not see a film arriving in cinemas in 2024 but theatre owners and trade experts are pinning hopes on a slate of mid scale films starring the likes of Shahid Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar and Vicky Kaushal. “The year 2023 showed a lot of hope especially compared to 2022, when the business had hit rock bottom.

The potential of the Hindi box office was evident in the fact that not only was the 500 crore milestone breached, but it happened four times through the year, so benchmarks are significantly higher now," independent distributor and exhibitor Akshaye Rathi said. While many are concerned about the absence of big tentpole titles, Rathi is optimistic about the fact that Ajay Devgn will have multiple films releasing over the next few months—an untitled supernatural thriller co starring R Madhavan and Jyothika in March, , a drama directed by Neeraj Pandey in April, and the next instalment of the franchise directed by Rohit Shetty in August.

Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar will begin the year with , a remake of Tamil film Soorarai Pottru in February, while his action comedy co starring Tiger Shroff, is slated for Eid in April. There is also a possibility of pan India hits originally made in southern languages this year, said Amit Sharma, managing director of Miraj Entertainment, a company that operates multiplex theatres.

Kamal Haasan’s , Prabhas’ , Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2 and Jr NTR’s , are all readying for release. Things ended on a favourable note for cinemas last year but there is much concern among the exhibitor fraternity, said Pranav Garg, managing director at Maya Palace, a two screen cinema in Muzaffarnagar.

“There are small films that can feed some theatres but nothing great. Soon after, we will enter the Ramzan period where anyway many films refrain from releasing since attendance is thin," Garg said adding that the hope was that Shah Rukh Khan’s would enjoy a substantial three to four week run after its Christmas release but the film has already slowed down.

Even , an action thriller, is not expected to make the kind of great numbers that films like and did in the mass market Hindi belt last year. Vishek Chauhan, a Bihar based independent exhibitor, agreed the 500 crore numbers that 2023 had thrown up, are not on the cards this time. “For now, it looks like a tepid year and production houses will really have to recalibrate to create bigger products and present actors as larger than life heroes.

There really is no reason to get carried away (with the numbers of 2023)," Chauhan said..