With the release of ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, it made December a month to remember for the Indian film industry; here’s the lowdown from the ground up…
By Rodrigues C
IT’S SURELY the best time to be in Mumbai because of the chills of course, which is a once in a year opportunity to get relief from the sweltering heat of the city.
In fact, December 9 saw the temperature plummet to just 13.7C, the lowest in a decade for this month.
Filmdom in India, not only Bollywood, got a massive boost in the final month of the year with the box office numbers of a South Indian movie.
Yes, we are talking about ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, which has shattered multiple records since its release. Just before it hit theatres on December 5, there wasn’t much publicity or hype for the Allu Arjun-Rashmika Mandana-Fahadh Faasil starrer.
Then, a day prior to the film’s release Arjun’s visit to a cinema hall in Hyderabad led to a stampede, which resulted in a death.
The ensuing controversy and subsequent arrest of Arjun meant more eyeballs to ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’. In all likelihood, the controversy helped the movie at the box office.
With three million tickets sold in advance, the highest in India, the industry expected big numbers for ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ but not the juggernaut that we are seeing right now.
In Tamil Nadu, the film released in 800 cinemas, the highest for dubbed movies, surpassing ‘RRR’; worldwide the Sukumar directorial hit 12,500 screens.
On day one, the film earned over £27.4 million worldwide. The record was earlier held by SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’, which had a £20.8m opening.
The original Telugu version minted £8.8m, Tamil £650,000, Malayalam £467,000 and Kannada £93,000.
The Hindi version collected about £6.7m overtaking Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’, which had minted £6.07m on its opening day.
The trailer of the Hindi version was launched in Patna (Bihar state) by Arjun and his co-star Mandana, skipping Mumbai, the capital of Hindi cinema. Looks like this move helped the film again.
As things stand, the actioner has grossed £160m worldwide. The next few days will see it surpass the lifetime earnings of ‘Baahubali 2’, £167m, thereby becoming India’s second highest grossing film.
The top spot is held by Aamir Khan’s ‘Dangal’, which had collected £186.9m worldwide since its release in 2016 December.
During its four-week box office run, ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ has set several records. It’s the first film to cross the ₹200 crore (£18.6m) mark on the opening day in India; it’s the biggest opener for a South Indian Movie in Hindi (£6.7m); biggest opener for an Indian film internationally in 2024 (£6.1m); biggest opener for an Allu Arjun, Sukumar, Rashmika Mandanna movie, it has the second highest footfall for a movie in India, is nearly eight million and counting; it’s the first Indian film to cross ₹100 crore (£8.3m) mark in its third week; it’s collected ₹1700 (£158.8m) in the shortest span, which is 21 days.
The other big movie of the month was Varun Dhawan’s ‘Baby John’, which failed to gather numbers at the box office. An official remake of the Tamil film ‘Their’ starring Vijay Sethupathi, this Kalees directorial hit theatres on Christmas Day. So far the movie has collected about £2.7m.
Mohanlal’s Malayalam directorial debut ‘Barroz’ has also failed at the box office, collecting just about £783,000. The movie also released on Christmas day.
Another movie worth a mention this month is Nana Patekar’s ‘Vanvaas’. Directed by Anil Sharma of ‘Gadar’ fame, the December 20 release failed to impress people at the box office with a collection of just about £434,000.
It’s been a mixed bag for the film industry in 2024. While ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, ‘Stree 2’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’, ‘Singham Again’, ‘The Greatest of All Time’, ‘Devara: Part 1’, ‘Fighter’, ‘Amaran’ and ‘Hanu-Man’ were the biggest hits of the year; box office disasters such as ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, ‘Maidaan’, ‘Yudhra’, ‘Ruslaan’ and ‘Bastar: The Naxal Story’ brought misery to its producers.
Big movies such as ‘Sky Force’ with Akshay Kumar, ‘Deva’ with Shahid Kapoor and Pooja Hegde, ‘Sikandar’ with Salman Khan, and ‘War 2’ with Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff will see the light of the day in 2025. Their fate is in the hands of the masses.
Hope the New Year ahead brings more luck to Bollywood.. till then…Happy New Year!
