Mumbai. The success of the Hindi version of ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ has brought a new twist to the Hindi film industry in 2024, which was earlier in losses due to the failure of big budget films like ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, ‘Maidaan’ and ‘Yodha’. According to the six-month report card of the film industry, the business of the Hindi cinema sector has declined by 20-30 percent. At the same time, films with low budget and original ideas like ‘Missing Ladies’ (Rs 20 crore) and ‘Munjya’ (Rs 98 crore) made their presence felt.
Film observer Komal Nahta told ‘PTI-Bhasha’, “If the film ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ had not happened, I would have said that the first six months of 2024 were very bad. Although ‘Kalki’ is not a Bollywood film, its Hindi version has given it a new life. ‘Kalki’ came only to improve our report card, otherwise it would have been full of red marks. ” He said that the Hindi version of this epic starring Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Kamal Haasan and Deepika Padukone is expected to earn more than Rs 300 crore. Overall, the film has earned more than Rs 900 crore, which is also available in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.
At the same time, other films released during the year have done disappointing business. Ajay Devgan’s “Maidaan”, based on sports madness, earned Rs 63 crore in India, which cost around Rs 235 crore. Similarly, the film “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan” earned more than Rs 110 crore in India, which was made on a budget of more than Rs 350 crore. Another big budget action film of Siddharth Malhotra, “Yodha”, earned more than Rs 42 crore, which cost Rs 55 crore, which was much less than expected.
Ajay Devgn’s horror film “Shaitan” performed relatively better with earnings of Rs 147 crore. Similarly, Rajkummar Rao’s “Srikant” earned Rs 47 crore. Some other films also performed average at the box office. Action film “Fighter”, starring Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor and made on a budget of Rs 250 crore, earned over Rs 300 crore worldwide.
Similarly, Shahid Kapoor-Kriti Sanon’s “Teri Baatein Mein Aisa Ulza Jiya” grossed Rs 139 crore worldwide, which was made on a budget of Rs 75 crore. On the other hand, Yami Gautam’s “Article 370”, made on a budget of Rs 20 crore, turned out to be a big hit, earning Rs 105 crore.
According to the company ‘Ormax Media’, the box office earnings of Hindi films from January to May 2023 were Rs 1,443 crore. This year, the earnings from January to May were Rs 1,251 crore, which is much less than last time. The company is yet to compile data for June 2024.