Mumbai: Indian films are showing higher growth in collections abroad than at home, with overseas box-office mop-up surging nearly 30% to $323 million ('2,760.6 crore) between 2022 and 2024, even as domestic growth crawled at 7.2%, according to the FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment 2025 report.

Between 2022 and 2024, domestic box-office revenue for Indian films increased a modest 7.2% to Rs. 11,800 crore, it said.

"Recently, Indian films have been telling stories which have universal emotions and global appeal. These films score well on the parameter of visual presentation of stories. Consequently, Indian films have been crossing language and geographical barriers," said Adi Tiwary, creative director and partner, Stuart Entertainment, an Australia-based boutique distributor and producer specialising in global content licensing, production and strategic partnerships.

Indian films such as 'Pushpa 2 – The Rule' (2024), 'Kalki 2898 AD' (2024), 'Pathaan' (2023), 'Jawan' (2023), 'Animal' (2023), 'Leo' (2023), 'Jailer' (2023), 'KGF - Chapter 2' (2022) and 'RRR' (2022) collected Rs. 200-500 crore each in overseas markets.

Experts said these films connected with people around the world because they use some of the same styles and techniques seen in popular Hollywood movies, and they discuss ideas and feelings that people of different ages can relate to.

For instance, 'Kalki 2898 AD' is fast-paced and uses several languages. Its style is similar to Marvel superhero movies and action films like 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. On the other hand, 'RRR' appealed to many international viewers by telling a story that felt deeply Indian and rooted in its culture.

The mix of global style and Indian storytelling has played a big role in the success of these movies overseas. It's also helped attract more non-Indian audiences to Indian films, according to industry executives and experts.

Rajat Agrawal, COO, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group, said, "Indian films have been gaining popularity even among non-Indians in overseas markets. Given the universal themes of love, family and friendship in Indian films, they have resonated with non-Indian audiences."

Producer and film business expert Girish Johar concurred, saying, "Apart from stories, Indian films are finding patronage even among non-Indian audiences because of the improved scale and quality of filmmaking."

Another factor aiding the acceptance of Indian films in overseas markets is their easy availability on global streaming platforms.

Ameya Naik, producer and founder of Fantasy Films, said, "Global streamers have played a key role in familiarizing Indian content to overseas audiences. Better subtitles and superior dubbing of Indian films on these global streamers have removed language barriers and provided overseas audiences anytime access to Indian films."

In addition to global streamers, growing online distribution, social media discussions, targeted marketing and prestigious awards at international film festivals have piqued overseas audiences' interest in Indian films. In addition, following the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian films rose to prominence as a result of the lull in Hollywood productions caused by the writers' strike.

In the overseas markets, the success of Indian films relies more on the Indian diaspora settled abroad. But there is demand for Indian films from audiences in non-traditional markets such as the Gulf (the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar), North America (the US and Canada), the UK and Europe (Germany, France and the Netherlands) and Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia). Despite such a wide overseas market, industry experts believe revenue from the Chinese markets will make a material difference to Indian films' collection given its size.

A testimony to this is the success of the Tamil film 'Maharaja' in China. Of its total worldwide collection of over Rs. 200 crore, it collected Rs. 91.6 crore from China alone, showing the potential of that market.

WILL CINEMA LOVERS DAY OFFER BENEFIT AZAAD, EMERGENCY AND HOLDOVER RELEASES?
 
Due to the dry period at the box office, the theatres have decided to once again have a Cinema Lovers Day on Friday, January 17. Usually, on this day, all cinemas sell tickets for Rs. 99. But this time, PVR Inox, Maxus and Miraj have priced tickets at Rs. 112 while MovieMax and MovieTime will sell tickets for Rs. 99. Nevertheless, Rs. 112 is also dirt cheap, considering the insane ticket prices nowadays and hence, the move will benefit.
 
The biggest beneficiary of this offer is usually the new releases. The Hindi films that will be released tomorrow are Emergency and Azaad. Emergency stars Kangana Ranaut and also features her as a director. She plays the role of the ex-Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The film was all set to be released on September 6, 2024. But during the promotions of the film in August last year, Kangana made certain comments that led to controversy. The film was then minutely viewed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and they raised objections to certain scenes. The matter even reached the Court after which the film was cleared but with a few deletions.
 
The Court case ended around October but the makers decided to release in January as probably there were no other release dates. The film’s awareness levels are high but the excitement levels are not. As a result, the film’s opening will be minimal. The Cinema Lovers Day will hopefully benefit Emergency and it’ll open around Rs. 3-4 crores.
 
Azaad, meanwhile, marks the debut of Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgan and Raveena Tandon’s daughter Rasha Thadani. It is directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Rock On and Kedarnath fame. Ajay Devgn also stars in the film in a dynamic role. The trailer and songs have failed to make a mark although the debutants have gone all out to promote the film. It is expected to open at Rs. 1-2 crores.
 
Last week’s releases, Game Changer and Fateh, have failed. Game Changer’s first week collections will be around Rs. 27 crores while that of Fateh would be Rs. 8 crores approx. They will get little benefit from the offer, especially Fateh since its tickets were priced at Rs. 99 and it also gave the audience the offer of Buy One Ticket Get One Free. A Gujarati film, Mom Tane Nai Samjay, was released last week and it’s doing huge business. Its shows have been increased and it’ll hugely benefit from this offer, compared to Game Changer and Fateh.
 
On the other hand, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which continues to be strong, will get considerable footfalls tomorrow. Right now, its ticket prices are around Rs. 149. With ticket rates slashed to Rs. 99 and Rs. 112, there’ll be even more motivation for the audience to turn up. Another re-release this Friday is Satya. The cheaper tickets might help the film emerge as a surprise success.
 
Two Hollywood films will also be released on January 17 - A Real Pain and Wolf Man. The awareness is limited and if other shows are full on Friday, the audience might buy its tickets.
 
Lastly, Pushpa 2 - The Rule will be released with an additional 20 minutes. It has done most of its business and it remains to be seen if people turn up to watch the extended cut.

BABY JOHN FLOPS; MARCO RISES; PUSHPA 2 AND MUFASA CONTINUE TO RULE

The big Christmas 2024 release, Baby John, has failed big time at the box office. After opening at Rs. 10.15 crores on December 25, it was expected to have a normal Thursday drop. But it went down to Rs. 4.15 crores and further down to Rs. 3.25 crores on Friday. It had small jumps on Saturday and Sunday but it wasn’t enough. The five-day collections were Rs. 25.90 crores, which should have been its two-day collections ideally. It got the benefit of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s to some extent but again, it won’t help much. The extended first-week collections are around Rs. 35-36 crores and it remains to be seen if it crosses the Rs. 45 crore mark.

Meanwhile, Baby John’s loss is Marco’s gain. The Malayalam film’s Hindi dubbed version barely collected Rs. 25 lakhs in the first week. But on its second Friday, it managed to collect the same amount as it did in the first week. On Wednesday, January 1, it hit the Rs. 1 crore mark when it collected Rs. 1.05 crore. Its two-week collections are now Rs. 5 crores. The film is now getting more and more screens as the days pass and hence, its collections are also increasing. At this rate, it can earn anywhere between Rs. 15 and 25 crores.

Mufasa: The Lion King grew big time after a not-so-expected start. It had a huge second weekend of Rs. 23.75 crores. On January 1, it earned Rs. 7 crores. While it collected Rs. 61.95 crores in Week 1, its week-two collections will be around Rs. 44 crores. It has crossed the Rs. 100 crore mark and will now go beyond Rs. 125 crores. It’ll still be less than its predecessor The Lion King which collected more than Rs. 150 crores in India. However, the purpose is served for this film with its trending.

Lastly, Pushpa 2 – The Rule remained rock steady. It crossed the Rs. 700 core mark on January 1. There’s a lot of gas left in the tank and trade is not ruling out a Rs. 750 crore lifetime.

BABY JOHN UNDERPFORMS; EARNS LESS THAN PUSHPA 2 AND MUFASA; ALL HOPE NOT LOST FOR VARUN DHAWAN-STARRER

The last big film of 2024, Baby John, was released on Wednesday, December 25 on the occasion of Christmas. Starring Varun Dhawan, the film looked like a grand action entertainer but the buzz was limited. Yet, the film was expected to open at around Rs. 15 crores. But shockingly, it had an opening of Rs. 10.75 crores. The word of mouth is just decent and is nothing extraordinary. Hence, today, Thursday, December 26, it’ll face a drop and might collect around Rs. 6 crores. At this rate, its five-day weekend will be in the range of Rs. 45-50 crores.

Thankfully, Baby John will have the advantage of a part holiday on Tuesday, December 31 followed by a big holiday on Wednesday, January 1. There’s no film releasing next Friday, January 3. The competition on January 10 and 17 is also very weak. Hence, it can have a good run until January 24.

What dealt a blow to Baby John’s collections were the collections of Pushpa 2 – The Rule as well as Mufasa: The Lion King. The Allu Arjun-starrer collected Rs. 13.75 crores on Christmas day, nearly 3 crores more than Baby John. This is despite Pushpa 2 being in its third week.

And that’s not all. Mufasa: The Lion King collected Rs. 25 lakhs more than Baby John as it earned Rs. 11 crores on December 25. This was unexpected as many felt that the film had underperformed. It opened at Rs. 7 crores on Friday and it jumped to Rs. 11.50 crores on Saturday and Rs. 14.25 crores on Sunday. On Monday, it had a smaller drop than Friday as it earned Rs. 5.25 crores. On Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24, the collections jumped to Rs. 6.75 crores. However, a nearly 65% jump was unexpected on December 25. It proved that it’ll cross the Rs. 100 crore mark and that it’ll overperform on holidays as it’s a film meant for families.