Recovering from a disappointing February, the box office bounced back in style, with March recording the best numbers for 2024 so far, with a collection of Rs 971 crore. Vikas Bahl’s Shaitaan soared high, Kareena Kapoor-Kriti Sanon-Tabu-starrer Crew brought in a bumper opening, Malayalam cinema continued its good run and three Hollywood films made it into March’s top 10, as per the India Box Office Report by Ormax Media.
Supernatural horror film Shaitaan, starring Ajay Devgn, R. Madhavan, Jyothika and Janki Bodiwala, roped in Rs 173 crore, emerging as the box office leader for March by some distance. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire took second place with Rs 129 crore, making it the highest-grossing Hollywood film in India this year. Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life, a survival drama starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, extended Malayalam cinema’s fairytale run at the box office in March, sealing third place with Rs 102 crore, while Telugu romantic comedy Tillu Square came in just behind at Rs 93 crore.
Having been screened in theatres in March for just three days, Crew, directed by Rajesh A. Krishnan, had quite the landing, earning Rs 92 crore and fifth place on the list, with the true extent of its success likely to be evident in next month’s report. Other Bollywood releases for March did not enjoy a similarly stellar run, with Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Yodha garnering Rs 39 crore and Randeep Hooda-led Swatantrya Veer Savarkar managing Rs 31 crore, settling for seventh and tenth places, respectively. Relative to expectations, actor Kunal Kemmu’s directorial debut, Madgaon Express, performed decently, closing out March at eighth place with Rs 36 crore. The rest of the top 10 for the month included Kung Fu Panda 4 (sixth place with Rs 46 crore) and Dune: Part Two (ninth place with Rs 34 crore).
Shaitaan’s run in March saw it break into the top five highest-grossing films of 2024, leapfrogging Guntur Kaaram in the process. Hrithik Roshan-Deepika Padukone-starrer Fighter still tops the list with Rs 243 crore, followed closely by Hanu-Man with Rs 241 crore. The cumulative box office collection for January to March releases now stands at Rs 2,590 crore, which is seven per cent higher than the same period last year. Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life’s March collection also took Malayalam’s 2024 box office tally to Rs 405 crore, which is already more than 70 per cent of its entire collection in 2023.
In terms of language share, Malayalam slotted into third place at 16 per cent, behind Hindi’s 36 per cent and Telugu’s 23 per cent.
