Kalki lone star shining as Indian films struggle in overseas markets

Box office collections for the Indian film industry from overseas markets such as the US, the UK, Canada and the UAE have been at an all-time low over the past few months, mirroring the trend seen in the domestic market.

With fewer big releases during the Lok Sabha 2024 election, coupled with the inability of smaller titles to pull in big crowds, footfalls at theatres, even overseas, have remained low, except for a few titles.

Also, trade experts say audiences across the Indian diaspora have moved away from Hindi films to southern language cinema, as evident in the box-office numbers of Kalki, the first big hit in months.

The Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukonestarrer had earned $16 million (₹133.50 crore) in North America and Canada, £1.28 million (₹13.68 crore) in the UK and A$2.73 million (₹15.36 crore) in Australia by its second week. Meanwhile, in the domestic market, it earned ₹530 crore.

In contrast, the only Hindi film that found favour with the overseas viewers this year has been Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon-starrer Crew that earned around ₹50 crore abroad upon its release in March and around ₹90 crore in the domestic market.

“The trend across the world is that the whole habit of going to the theatre has come down because it is prohibitively expensive, plus audiences don’t feel that anything great is on offer too often,” said Yusuf Shaikh, business head of feature films at production Kalki and distribution firm Percept Pictures.

Trade experts like Shaikh said only tentpole movies like Kalki, and earlier Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, have found an audience overseas. Also, a lot depends on when there are holidays or long weekends in foreign markets.

Young Indians studying abroad have also been deterred by high ticket prices. Also, with film studios slashing promotional budgets by 60-70%, there are hardly any efforts made to create buzz and hype around new releases in the domestic or overseas markets.

In contrast, southern language films, especially those in Malayalam, have brought in better returns from overseas territories for filmmakers over the past few months.

Malayalam hits such as Fahadh Faasil-starrer

and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life each grossed about ₹160 crore worldwide earlier this year, of which ₹95 crore and ₹85 crore, respectively, were their domestic collections.

“Malayalam films are doing extraordinarily well in markets like the US, the UK and the Gulf and taking better openings than Hindi (movies) in many cases. Bollywood—that was the most popular choice abroad—has seen a definite slump in business unless a really big star is in the picture,” said independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai.

had earned $16 mn in North America and Canada, £1.28 mn in the UK by its second week