After a remarkable 2022, which announced the resurgence of Indian cinema on the big screen following the pandemic, 2023 has started off on a promising note, as per The India Box Office Report, prepared by Ormax Media. With a gross collection of Rs 1,389 crore, January proved to be the best month at the box office since April 2022.

While different language industries use different parameters for assessing box office numbers (Gross, Nett or Share), Ormax’s report adopts Gross Box Office as the unified measurement. Under this, a film’s collection is always attributed to the month of its release, even if the film goes on to produce more or better numbers in the subsequent months. For films released in multiple languages, box office numbers reflect the contribution of such films to all the corresponding languages.

The phenomenon that is Pathaan

By now it is no secret that Siddharth Anand-directed Pathaan has been smashing box office records left, right and centre, with Shah Rukh Khan’s return to the theatres, ably supported by John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and a superstar cameo, already becoming the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time. While the action thriller has surpassed Rs 1,000 crore in its worldwide collection, its domestic tally in January rose to Rs 643 crore (in spite of running for just seven days in January following its release on January 25), a feat that will be hard to match for subsequent releases this year. This meant that Pathaan alone took home 46 per cent of the box office share in the opening month of 2023, a figure that has virtually no parallel in modern box office history.

Following Pathaan’s runaway success was Tamil action drama Varisu, starring Vijay Rajendran and Rashmika Mandanna, which ended January with an impressive Rs 213 crore. In third place, with Rs 190 crore in the kitty, was Telugu action comedy Waltair Veerayya, with an ensemble cast comprising the likes of Chiranjeevi, Ravi Teja and Shruti Haasan. Tamil heist drama Thunivu and Telugu drama Veera Simha Reddy, where Nandamuri Balakrishna plays a double role, rounded off the top five with Rs 135 crore and Rs 113 crore, respectively. With the exception of Pathaan, no other Hindi film made it into the top 10 for January; Kuttey and Mission Majnu became resounding flops.

Highest share for Hindi since the pandemic started

Should 2023 maintain January’s performance over the rest of the year, it will amass Rs 16,668 crore at the box office. This would comfortably shatter 2019’s record as the most successful box office year with a collection of Rs 10,948 crore. Even though January’s staggering figures will most likely not be repeated for most of the rest of the months this year, a superb start to the calendar puts 2023 in a fantastic position to unseat 2019 eventually.

Lopsided as this may seem due to the outsized success of Pathaan, January also saw Hindi reassert its box office supremacy, with a 46 per cent share of the language pie. This is the most Hindi has managed to accumulate since the pandemic began in March 2020. As expected, Telugu and Tamil took the other two podium positions, chipping in with 25 per cent and 23 per cent respectively.