Small Budget Movies Dominate First Half of 2024 |

Small budget, lesser-known stars, shun the Khans and Kapoors and add a gripping tale to the mix – and you have the newest success formula dominating the entertainment industry. The first half of 2024 was full of such sleeper and surprising hits, which established the trend of ‘less is more’. Horror was the flavour of the season as we were treated with Shaitaan, Munjya and Aranmanai 4.But it was not just the genre that caught the fancy of the audience, but the engaging narratives and impressive performances, which shone on a tight budget.
Creating a success story on a shoestring budget
Made on a budget of approximately 30 crore, Munjya earned over thrice the returns with a worldwide box office collection of Rs 125 crore. Tamil horror drama Aranmanai 4 also had its producers laughing their way to the bank, with a whopping business of Rs 100 crore!
Aditya Sarpotdar, who helmed ‘Munjya’, opines why the horror genre has clicked with the audience suddenly, “I think the collection has come in through a variety of audiences, kids, elders and whole families, all of whom would watch a horror film together. Munjya had no big cast, budget or promotional activities. However, looking at the footfalls, I realized that people are attracted to the narratives and the experience. They want to watch clean entertainment, films that are fun and humorous.”
Attempting to decode the success of his film, Aditya added, “It was a big eye opener when I noticed that 30 percent kids would turn up in theatres with their families to watch Munjya. This brought in the collection. Also, I always felt that Munja as a character had a lot of appeal for kids. It is folklore and this kind of character appeals to the kids.”

Is 100 crore an easy target?
From Fighter to Kalki and Munjya to Crew, the first half of 2024 has seen a mix of genres, stars, budgets and successes. But not so impressed with the report card, trade analyst Komal Nahta told us, “The first seven months have not been extraordinary. The big ones flopped but dubbed South films and smaller Hindi films have done very well. So I would say it has been a decent year, of course, not an extraordinary year like 2023. 100 crore, of course, has become a little easier because the budgets have gone up so much, but now there is no value of 100 crore. For smaller films ofcourse the number is a big deal but for big and even mid-range movies, 100 crore is not a very difficult target to achieve. Because of the huge budget allotments, the ticket prices have also gone up, thus making it easier for films to cross a 100 crore milestone.”

The yardstick of success for each film is different, since the budget, star power, release date, all play an important role in pushing the film to its pinnacle. “When you make a film on a budget of 100 to120 crore, even if it crosses 100 crore at the box office, the profits are not so big. Besides, the pressure builds more when the budget is more, which can affect the success of the movie. Like a Kalki can pull off a big budget-big profits ratio, but then a Kalki does not arrive every month. And then there are films like Kill, Laapataa Ladies, Madgaon Express, 12th Fail, Manjummel Boys, which have arrived in theatres not knowing how big they are going to become,” asserted Aditya.
Stating that the pressure will now mount for the sequel, Aditya stated, “Thanks to the success of the first part, team Munjya has got a big financial push. Now the stakes go higher. We get a bigger budget, we scale up and do crazier things.”
Is stardom causing the downfall?
The success of small budget films has made people question the concept of stardom. Rohit Shetty helmed ‘Cirkus’, which was made on a grand scale and starred Ranveer Singh in the lead, failed massively at the box office. Reflecting on the trend of small films making it big, Rohit said, “You must look at the history of cinema in India, such times keep coming and going. To say that stars will not work, big films will fail, only small movies will succeed, it is a cycle, phase, but this too will pass.”

Positivity is the way ahead… and there’s no looking back!
Akshay Kumar, once a hit machine, has witnessed over a dozen flops in the past few years. Following his fate at the box office, He recently shared that the fraternity sent him messages that sounded like condolence messages. But Akshay Kumar refuses to be bogged down by the onslaught of failure. “Whatever happens, happens for the best. I don’t overthink. Four-five films of mine have not worked, I get so many kinds of messages — ‘sorry yaar, fikar mat kar (sorry friend, don’t worry)’. Abey marra nahi hoon main (I am not dead)! It feels like people are sending me obituary messages. One journalist even wrote, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be back’, I called him up and asked why he wrote this? What does ‘back’ mean? Where have I gone? I am here and I’ll keep working. Chaahe log kuch bhi bole (it doesn’t matter what people say). In the morning I wake up, exercise, leave for work, and return home. Jo bhi kamata hoon apne dum pe kamata hoon (Whatever I earn, I earn on my own). Kisi ka kuch khaunga nahi main kabhi (I’ll never snatch anything from anyone). I’ll keep on working till they have to shoot me down (to stop me from working).”