Indian theatres are basking in the glory of Stree 2's success, with the movie having become the most profitable Hindi film of the year. This comes at a time when the box office business, especially of Bollywood movies, has been under pressure due to underperformance of big-budget and star-led films.
From Akshay Kumar to Hrithik Roshan, movies featuring marquee names have not done well. Kumar-starrer Khel Khel Mein, which was released alongside Stree 2 on August 15, and the January release Fighter, which had Roshan in the lead, failing to impress the movie-going public only added to the pain of theatre operators, who many times this year struggled to make ends meet due to the volatile box office business.
On the other hand, Stree 2, with earnings topping Rs 520 crore over its 20-day run, and made on a budget of around Rs 60 crore, has given relief to exhibitors.
The Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkumar Rao-starrer is the third fastest Hindi film to enter the Rs 500-crore club after Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan (September 2023), which achieved this milestone in 13 days. Ranbir Kapoor's Animal (December 2023) is the second fastest film to collect Rs 500 crore, doing so in 16 days, while Stree 2 managed the feat in 18 days.
Single-screen exhibitor Vishek Chauhan earlier this year had pointed out that for the cinema business, the time taken by a movie to generate money is an important factor.
"What people need to understand is that it is not how much money a film makes to reach profitability, it is how fast it can do it. Time is of great essence in the success of films. A film making Rs 300 crore in one year versus a film collecting Rs 300 crore in a week, any exhibitor will choose the latter. That's the kind of film that gets me those footfalls," Chauhan had said while discussing the business of Fighter which did not meet box office expectations, resulting in subdued business for the month as expectations were high from the multi-star-led movie.
Released on January 25, Fighter had over the Republic Day extended weekend collected around Rs 80 crore at the box office.
In comparison, Stree 2 earned around Rs 195 crore by the end of its first extended weekend with the strong momentum continuing during weekdays.
In a big multiplex chain like PVR Inox, Stree 2 celebrated its Rs 200-crore net box office collection (NBOC) and became the third film to do so ever. The other two movies to achieve this feat include Khan's Jawan and Kannada superstar Yash's KGF Chapter 2, Kamal Gianchandani, CEO of PVR Inox Pictures, pointed out in a tweet.
Stree 2 versus Animal, Jawan
The medium-budget Stree 2 has given big-ticket films like Jawan, Animal and June 2024's Kalki 2898 AD a run for their money.
The 2023 releases Animal and Jawan posted a return on investment of 177 percent and 113 percent, respectively. In comparison, Stree 2 reported a profit of Rs 460 crore, seven times its budget, yielding an ROI of 767 percent.
Directed by Amar Kaushik, the horror-comedy flick has left in its wake other successful ventures of 2024 like Munjya, the Hindi-dubbed version of Telugu film HanuMan and Kalki 2898 AD, apart from other Bollywood movies including Shaitaan and Article 370, when it comes to profits.
While the Hindi version of HanuMan collected Rs 147 crore in India, the business of Kalki 2898 AD's Hindi version stood at around Rs 294 crore. Made on a budget of Rs 35 crore, HanuMan's domestic business stood at around Rs 147 crore. With a budget of around Rs 600 crore, Kalki 2898 AD in India earned Rs 640 crore in 40 days of its release.
On its home turf, Stree 2 is coming close to the Rs 600-crore mark in gate money, while its worldwide box office collections are nearing Rs 700 crore.
Malayalam cinema's winning streak
However, it was Malayalam cinema—which is having a stellar run at the box office this year—that delivered Premalu, the most profitable movie of 2024. With a modest budget of Rs 3 crore, it earned Rs 95 crore in India and recorded over 3,000 percent ROI.
As a whole, Malayalam cinema in the first six months of 2024 did a business of Rs 743 crore, higher than Rs 633 crore in 2022 and Rs 572 crore last year.
Post-covid movie business
Going beyond 2024, The Kashmir Files surpasses Stree 2 in terms of profitability in the post-Covid period.
The Kashmir Files, released in March 2022, collected around Rs 195 crore in India and was made on a budget of around Rs 20 crore. The film recorded an ROI of 875 percent.
Bollywood successes in the post-Covid period have been erratic with movies either seeing an overwhelming response in theatres or not working at all, exhibitors noted.
For instance, despite a healthy performance recorded in the second quarter of the current fiscal like Kalki 2898 AD and Stree 2, the overall Hindi box office collection is estimated to have declined by 31 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,110 crore due to a higher base during the same period last year thanks to blockbuster movies like Gadar 2, OMG 2 and Jawan in Q2FY24.
In addition, domestic footfalls in cinemas continue to be lower in the post-Covid period. In 2019, footfalls were around 103 crore, which dropped 8 percent to 94.3 crore last year. Footfalls are estimated to be down by around 20 percent this year.
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