This unstarred, low-budget Indian movie defied Fighter, Shaitaan, and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan to become the highest-grossing movie of 2024

Indian cinema output in 2024 has not been nearly as strong as it was in 2023. In the first quarter of the previous year, blockbusters like Pathaan had been released. But as of 2024, no Indian movie has made above Rs 400 crore, much less Rs 1000 crore. A low-budget Telugu movie has taken the lead and become the highest-grossing Indian picture of the year so far, while the larger blockbusters have tanked at the box office.

Just two Indian movies have so far this year earned more than Rs 300 crores globally as of April 26. The first of them is Fighter, directed by Siddharth Anand and starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, as the follow-up to Pathaan. However, HanuMan, Prasanth Varma’s Telugu superhero picture, has eclipsed Fighter despite having a significant star cast and a substantial budget. Despite having a relatively low budget of Rs 40 crore, the film has grossed over Rs 350 crore globally so far, slightly more than Fighter’s earnings of Rs 337 crore. Teja Sajja plays the title character in the film HanuMan, which launches a brand-new movie series.

With the exception of these two, movies from the south dominate the top 10 most grossing movies of 2024; Bollywood is hardly mentioned at all. The Goat Life (Rs 150 crore), Premalu (Rs 135 crore), and Manjummel Boys (Rs 236 crore) are the three highest-grossing Malayalam films, respectively. The Telugu movies Tillu Square (Rs 124 crore) and Guntur Kaaram (Rs 178 crore) are positioned well at 5th and 10th. Other than Fighter, the only Bollywood films on the list are Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (Rs 133 crore), Shaitaan (Rs 211 crore), and Crew (Rs 147 crore).