Kalki 2898 AD brings box office back to life

The Telugu epic sci-fi film Kalki 2898 AD has buoyed the Indian film box office market by garnering over Rs 350 crore in domestic and over Rs 500 crore in global box office collections including India.

According to film trade website Sacnilk, the film grossed Rs 369 crore domestically and Rs 146 crore from overseas markets in the first four days since its release on June 27.

The film, which draws inspiration from Hindu mythology and features Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Dulquer Salman, Deepika Padukone, and Disha Patani, is the first major blockbuster hit of 2024 in an otherwise underwhelming first half due to a lack of big releases.

As per Ormax Media, the cumulative domestic box office collection stood at Rs 3,791 crore between January and May, with Fighter and Hanu-Man being the only films to gross over Rs 200 crore at the box office.

Experts believe that Kalki has done well across segments and markets due to its star power, strong content, and high-quality production value.

"Kalki is doing well not just in metros but also in non-metros. The film has a healthy mix of star power and content. The production quality and the VFX are also very good," said film trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

While concurring with Adarsh, Elara Capital SVP Karan Taurani said the film could collect box office collections of up to Rs 700 crore domestically and up to Rs 900 crore worldwide.

Cinepolis India MD Devang Sampat said the footfalls of cinema, though 15% below the pre-pandemic level, will remain at the same level in 2024 and 2023.

"The footfalls in the first half have remained at the same level as in 2023. In the second half, films like Kalki, Pushpa 2, and Singham Again are expected to drive footfalls," he noted.

According to Ormax, the total cinema footfalls stood at 943 million in 2023, compared to 1.03 billion in 2019.

Miraj Entertainment MD Amit Sharma said Kalki is the second biggest Telugu film opening ever after Baahubali 2. "Kalki is undoubtedly a pan-India film, considering its diverse cast from the Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil film industries. The movie has done fantastic business overall."

Experts note that the second half of the year will see a rebound of the box office after a lull in the first half due to the Indian Premier League (IPL), the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, and the general elections.

"The content line-up looks promising across both Indian and Hollywood films. We have strong franchise-based films like Pushpa 2 and Singham Again. There are other mid-budget movies that could do well," Taurani added.

Adarsh said it's difficult to predict the box office numbers for the second half due to the volatile nature of the film and exhibition industries.

"With upcoming releases like Sarfira, Indian 2, Bad Newz, and Deadpool and Wolverine in July, the box office numbers should remain strong, similar to the performance we saw last year in August," said Miraj Entertainment’s Sharma.

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