Hindi box office collected 32% from dubbed versions of South films: Report

GroupM iTV and Ormax Media unveiled an in-depth analysis of Indian box office performance in 2022 citing trends and insights of the industry.

GroupM India’s Interactive Television (iTV) and Ormax Media have unveiled the 2022 edition of ‘India Is Back…At the Theatres’ report, which provides an in-depth analysis of the Indian box office performance in 2022, after a tumultuous period.

The report delves into the trends and insights that shape the Indian film industry, including box office collections across languages. 

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According to the report, 2022 was only 300 crore behind 2019, which remains the best-grossing year at the Indian box office. Compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, Hindi cinema has lost 11 percentage points in share (44% to 33%), while Telugu cinema has been the biggest gainer, growing its share from 13% to 20% and 2022 has been Telugu cinema’s best ever year till date, along with being the first year in which Telugu cinema has crossed the 2,000 crore mark.  

The report also stated that the four South languages i.e., Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam cinemas in 2022 have surpassed their 2019 collections, with Kannada and Telugu showing the highest percentage growth of 55% and 53% respectively. Hindi and Hollywood movies underperformed in 2022 as compared to 2019, with the latter being impacted by a weaker flow of the film in the first half of the year. Additionally, 32% of Hindi box office came from dubbed versions of South films like K.G.F: Chapter 2, RRR, Kantara, etc. 

K.G.F: Chapter 2, RRR, and Avatar: The Way of Water emerged as the top-performing movies at the box office, whereas Brahmāstra was the top Hindi language movie. Avatar: The Way Of Water became the all-time highest-grossing Hollywood film in India, contributing a staggering 38% to the Hollywood box office in India in 2022. Malayalam cinema showed minimal growth over 2019, finishing at the same level as that year, just above 600 Cr. After a few years of struggle at the box office, Marathi cinema had a very good year, crossing 250 Cr for the first time ever. 

In terms of in-cinema advertising, the second half of the year saw an 18% increase in the number of brands advertising as compared to the same period in 2019. F&B and Consumer Durables were the top 2 categories in cinema advertising in 2022 as compared to Clothing and Telecom/Internet Service Providers in 2019. 

Ajay Mehta, Founder and MD, Interactive Television (iTV) and MD, Kinetic India said, "Despite theatres being closed in many parts of India in early 2022, the year's box office collections were only 300 Cr behind the best-grossing year of 2019. The return of audiences to cinemas, the strength of regional industries makes us optimistic that in 2023, we will see even more brands advertising in cinemas and theatres."

Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO, Ormax Media, said, “When theatres were closed in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and OTT platforms witnessed steep growth in consumption, many observers were quick to write the obituary of the theatrical medium. In 2022, Indian audiences have shown that the cinemas are here to stay, and this report is a validation of that. With the release of Pathaan this week, 2023 is off to a great start too, auguring well for a medium that was impacted the most by the pandemic, but has managed to bounce back in no time at all.”