The film and exhibition industries, which lost a productive summer season due to the general election, T-20 and IPL matches, are hoping to recoup the lost ground with a strong lineup of movies in the second half of the year.
Southern directors are expected to lead the charge, addressing the industry’s biggest challenge: decreasing footfalls. Despite a lackluster first half, the release of Kalki 2898 brought in over ₹1,000 crore in box office collections, offering a glimmer of hope, towards the end of the first half.
The industry is banking on upcoming releases from directors like Shankar, Lokesh Kanagaraj, Gnanavel, Sukumar and Koratala Siva to revitalise the box office.
But for the release of Kalki 2898, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas and Deepika Padukone, the first half turned dry for the industry. The film, released towards the end of June and raked in over ₹1,000 crore in box office collections, bringing cheer to the industry that clocked poor footfalls in the first half of the financial year.
The Indian film industry is struggling to come back to the pre-pandemic levels both in terms of footfalls and theatrical revenues. According to the E&Y report on the media and entertainment sector, the industry saw a decline in footfalls to 900 million (theatrical revenues stood at ₹12,600 crore in 2023), which was way lower than the 900 million footfalls (theatrical revenues at ₹10,000 crore). In 2018, the industry registered 1,560 footfalls and ₹11,000 crore). The lower revenues in 2018 was attributed to the lower ticket prices ruling at that time.
What to expect
The second half started with a limping start with Shankar-Kamal Haasan’s Indian-2 proving to be a big flop. Putting this behind, the industry lined up over 50 movies in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and other languages in August, reflecting the pent-up expectations for the remainder of the year. The list includes Thangalaan (The Son of Gold) starring Vikram. The film, directed by Pa. Ranjit, revolves around Kolar Gold Fields (KGF).
A good number of them have been deferred by the producers to evade the unusually slack summer season – a result of the seven-phase high-decibel Lok Sabha elections and the IPL matches.
Several film producers have either postponed the releases or delayed the shooting schedules to evade empty theatres. They now want to cash in on the upcoming mini-holiday season – from August 15 to 26. With a few national holidays, local festivals and two weekends, the industry expects good footfalls.
Hopes on the South
But the real bull-work is expected from the big boys. Almost all of the eagerly-awaited movies are made by Southern directors, which include Shankar, Lokesh Kanagaraj, Gnanavel, Sukumar and Koratala Siva. Sukumar’s sequel to the blockbuster hit Pushpa is scheduled for release in December, while Shankar’s Game Changer starring Ram Charan is slated for release in September. Rajnikanth’s Vettaiyan (directed by TJ Gnanavel) is slated for October release, while Jr NTR’s movie Devara is hitting the screens in September.
Like it happened last year, films directed by Southern directors are expected to address the biggest challenge – the decreasing number of footfalls – that the film industry is facing.