The Indian film industry exhibited a marked recovery in 2023, with 157.4 million people visiting cinemas, a notable 29% increase from the previous year and exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 8%. This recovery was reflected in the impressive box office revenue which surpassed 12,000 crore for the first time.
However, despite these positive indicators, the growth in footfalls has not kept pace, suggesting that while more people are visiting theatres, they are doing so less frequently than before the pandemic. Industry experts attribute this to the rise in streaming services and the increasing cost of cinema tickets, which are transforming cinemas into more premium spaces.
This shift risks alienating a significant portion of the population from the theatre-viewing experience, posing a challenge to smaller-scale, content-driven films that often lack the star power of big-budget productions. Consequently, the industry may continue to rely heavily on a few, big-budget, star-driven titles.
Analyzing research conducted among 8,500 Indian audiences in both urban and rural areas, the Ormax report revealed that these 157.4 million cinema-goers contributed to 943 million footfalls at the domestic box office in 2023, equating to an average of six films watched per person across all languages.
Hindi-language films witnessed the most significant growth, with its audience rising to 92 million, a substantial 58% increase over 2022. On the other hand, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films experienced a minor drop in audience shares, while Malayalam cinema saw a 19% increase, rising from 10 million in 2022 to 12 million in 2023.
Despite the increase in cinema-goers, annual footfalls have not kept pace, indicating that while more people may have gone to cinemas, they haven’t done so often enough. The year 2023 registered 943 million footfalls, a growth over 2022, but much below the pre-pandemic level of 1,030 million in 2019.
Further, while more than 1,000 films were released, the top 10 films alone contributed 40% of the year’s total box office. The average ticket price also grew by 9% over 2022, and is now 22% higher than the pre-pandemic (2019) level.
This contrast is particularly evident in domestic footfalls for Hindi language films, which stand at 275 million in 2023 as compared to 341 million in 2019, even though box office touched 5,380 crore in 2023 as compared to 4,831 crore in 2019.
