Movies were the mainstay in outdoor entertainment for many Indians, making 2023 a blockbuster year for the cinema business. Millions of Indians opted for the big screen experience to watch the strong lineup of theatrical content. This surge in popularity set a new record, with the highest number of tickets sold for a single day occurring on August 13. On BookMyShow, the online ticketing and entertainment platform, a remarkable 2.8 million movie tickets were sold, reflecting the immense success and widespread appeal of cinema in the country.
For 90 percent Indians, the go-to option for out-of-home experience was catching the latest movie release in the theatre among other leisure activities. This was further reiterated with the Independence Day festive weekend which witnessed the largest attendance of 10.9 million audiences in Indian theatres.
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A dedicated movie enthusiast from Hyderabad set an impressive record by watching 99 films in cinemas this year alone. Moreover, a substantial 16.48 lakh cinephiles indulged in the big screen experience by watching six movies or more throughout the year. On average, these cinema lovers visited theaters at least once every two months, showcasing a strong and consistent interest in enjoying films on the big screen.
The year of sequels, the timeless magic of Shah Rukh Khan and the joy of drama meant mega-blockbusters like Jawan, Pathaan, Gadar 2: The Katha Continues, Jailer, Animal (Hindi), Leo, The Kerala Story, Adipurush (Hindi), Ponniyan Selvan: Part 2 (Tamil), Tiger 3, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and OMG 2, making these films among the most popularly watched movies this year.
Along with multiplexes, single screen theatres drove the box office business this year with around 40 percent contribution coming from the single screens at the box office.
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While weekends were one of the favourite times for moviegoers to watch a film in a theatre, weekday trips to a cinema hall were also frequent this year. Around 22.7 million cinephiles watched movies in theatre on a Sunday afternoon while 37 percent of BookMyShow users got their filmy fix during the week from Monday to Thursday.
Live events took centre stage this year after the industry struggled during the Covid years. More than 26,350 live events were experienced by 13.5 million audience across 250 cities.
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Indians chose premium live entertainment and elevated their experience this year with 82 percent growth over last year for specially crafted international live events, accompanied by a 2.3x growth in BookMyShow Live’s enthusiastic consumer cohort of premium event-goers.
In addition, over 9.4 lakh people attended live entertainment events solo.
Over 4 lakh people travelled all the way outside of their home cities for on ground live events. Audience from Tier II towns of Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Nagpur were among those who showcased high preference for live event experiences, marking a 225 percent growth in ticket sales from last year.
Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Chennai were the leaders of the pack of metro cities for movies, live entertainment, or on-demand video entertainment. This year non-metros and Tier II markets and beyond, saw strong growth for both movies and live entertainment with Ahmedabad being the evergreen legend of the non-metro market.
This year the country also saw many global performers on the Indian stage. Worldwide sensations like Lollapalooza India 2023, Trevor Noah, Daniel Sloss, Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Jay Shetty and MotoGP came to India to perform for the first time. Live events have become a popular feature on travellers’ itineraries, boosting tourism for host cities as well as becoming a mainstay in travel plans of Indian audiences.
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