Film industry in India - statistics & facts

As one of the largest cinema hubs in the world, the Indian film industry is renowned for its glitz, vibrancy, and drama. The city of Mumbai is especially relevant in this context as the birthplace and namesake of “Bollywood” in India. And while Hindi language cinema dominates the multi-billion-rupee industry in terms of net worth, there are many other film hubs across the country differentiated by regional languages including Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bhojpuri, and Bengali to name a few.

Movie-goers return to theaters

Since the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Indian movie-goers thronged cinema halls once again, with average ticket prices being the lowest in nearly a decade. Although the numbers have started to dwindle over the years, the country still houses many single screen theatres alongside the more modern multiplexes. This also makes the Indian cinema lover an ideal target for advertisers.

India's film and music industries often go hand-in-hand

In addition to advertising, music in Indian film is a significant revenue generator, often creating more buzz about the film than its trailers. Music distributors like T-Series and Zee Music found success in recent years via YouTube, making Indian music rank high in terms of views and subscriptions. The popularity of these songs has led to playback singers being revered and becoming some of the highest earners in the business. Arguably, the most popular was Grammy-award winning A.R. Rahman. Interestingly, the highest grossing film Dangal, released in 2016, did not have music as popular as some of its counterparts. Starring Aamir Khan, the film broke records previously held by PK, starring the same actor.

A paradigm shift in film production and consumption

With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, film releases moved to the virtual world, making a mark in an already booming streaming market, each player rushing to acquire rights to blockbuster films. The slowly increasing number of film releases also signaled a gradual recovery made by the industry. The rise of streaming platforms as the preferred mode of watching movies among Indians has helped sustain the film industry through this turbulent phase.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

Value of the film industry: 183bn INR

Highest internationally grossing Indian film: Dangal

Biggest Bollywood production of all time: 2.0

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Value of the film industry in India FY 2014-2024

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Industry overview

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Box office hits

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Regional cinema

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Cinematic experience

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Fan following

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