Hindi cinema lags during pandemic | WARC | The Feed

Hindi cinema lags during pandemic

Of the top ten films in India during the pandemic, four were Telugu and three were Hindi, according to a new report from media consulting firm Ormax Media.

Why it matters

The Ormax Box Office Report 2020-21, reported in e4m, covers two years of the pandemic when many theatres were closed across the country. It finds that cinema audiences are growing again in India, along with box office takings, but Hindi films are no longer the top draw.

Key statistics

• Telugu cinema surpassed Hindi in terms of share of box office in 2020 & 2021: 29% vs 27% (in 2019 Hindi dominated: 13% vs 44%); Tamil cinema has edged up from 13% to 17% in that time. 
• Average annual revenue for the years 2020 and 2021 stood at just Rs 2,900 crore, compared to a pre-pandemic figure of almost Rs 11,000 crore in 2019.
• Annual footfall plummeted from 103.0 crore in 2019 to 22.5 crore in 2020 before recovering to 42.7 crore in 2021.

Key quote 

“While we can expect Hindi cinema to stage a recovery in 2022, the rise of South cinema is a story to watch out for” – Shailesh Kapoor, founder & CEO, Ormax Media.

Sourced from e4m [Image: Pexels]