The year 2023 turned out to be a saviour for the film industry. 2020 and 2021 were poor as theatres were shut for most parts of the year. Theatres commenced operations in 2022 in full swing but due to several flops, the year turned out to be a disappointing one. Many expected 2023 to be a repeat of 2022. But 2023 was the best ever for Indian cinema as collections went to an all-time high, bringing cheer to the production, distribution, and exhibition sectors.
2023 was the first time when the gross box office collections in India crossed the Rs. 12,000 crore mark. Until 2019, collections were increasing year after year. In 2019, the collections entered the Rs. 10,000 crore club for the first time as the total earnings were Rs. 10,948 crores. The collections then dropped to Rs. 2,056 crores gross in 2020 once theatres shut in mid-March that year. The cinema halls opened in October/November but the collections were negligible.
The collections improved in 2021 to Rs. 3,772 crores but it was still far from the 2019 levels. In 2022, despite the poor performance of several biggies, the collections jumped to Rs. 10,637 crores. It was better than the 2020 and 2021 numbers but slightly less than the figure in 2019. In 2023, there was a huge jump – Rs. 12,226 crores – which proves that cinemas are back and normalcy has kicked in and how.
2023 is the first-ever year when the gross box office in India has crossed the 12,000 cr. mark, surpassing the previous best year 2019 (10,948 cr.) by 1,278 cr. India box office witnessed a healthy 15% growth over 2022.
These numbers were possible mainly as Hindi cinema bounced back with a bang. Shah Rukh Khan-starrers Pathaan and Jawan, Sunny Deol-starrer Gadar 2 and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal were huge blockbusters in Bollywood as their collections exceeded expectations. Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire was the biggest Telugu hit while Leo and Jailer were the biggest grossers in Tamil cinema. These 7 films contributed nearly 30% of the total domestic collections of all films of Indian cinema in 2023.
India gross box office in cr.
2015 - 8,315 cr.
2016 - 8,649 cr.
2017 - 9,630 cr.
2018 - 9,810 cr.
2019 - 10,948 cr.
2020 - 2,056 cr.
2021 - 3,772 cr.
2022 - 10,637 cr.
2023 - 12,226 cr.
Source: The Ormax Box Office Report 2023
