PS-II led a disappointing April at the box office, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan came in second: Ormax report

The second quarter of 2023 started at the box office with a relatively disappointing April, which saw two big releases, but not much else, according to Ormax Media’s The India Box Office Report. With an overall collection of Rs 618 crore, April did worse than March and only follows February as the worst performing month of 2023 so far. Compared to 2022, box office numbers for the first four calendar months are down 22%.

While different language industries use different metrics to gauge box office (gross, net, or share), Ormax’s report adopts gross box office as a unified measure. Under this, a film’s collection is always attributed to the month of its release, even if the film continues to produce more or better in subsequent months. For films released in multiple languages, box office figures reflect the contribution of these films to all corresponding languages.

Ponniyin Selvan-II get into the club Rs 200 crore and top three of 2023

Despite being released on April 28, just three days before the end of the month, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan-II had a fantastic run at the box office, racking up Rs 209 crore to finish comfortably at the top of the April release list.

The historical Tamil film that combines action and adventure thrived on a strong plot and the star power of Vikram and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to join Pathan (Rs 646 crore) and Varisu (Rs 212 crore) topped the charts for 2023. In fact, once the May figures are considered, PS-II is practically guaranteed to blow Varisualthough catching Pathan seems unlikely.

April’s Biggie Bollywood, Salman Khan star Kiski Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaanhas done reasonably well without creating eye-popping numbers since its April 21 release. Its collection of Rs 124 crore in April puts the film in second place for the month, well ahead of Telugu horror mystery Virupaksha, which grossed Rs 68 crore. Hollywood’s completes April’s top five Evil Dead Rise (Rs 39 crore) and Telugu action thriller Ravanasura (Rs 18 crore).

2023 must pull itself together

After an exceptional month of January, mainly due to the extraordinary success of Shah Rukh Khan, Pathan, 2023 is struggling to start at the box office. April is the third month in a row that failed to cross Rs 700 crore in terms of overall collection. At its current rate, 2023 will only end up assimilating Rs 9,210 crore, which is 13% less than 2022, which ended with an impressive Rs 10,637 crore.

In terms of language sharing at the box office, PS-II increased the Tamil share of the pie, increasing it from March’s 3% to 22%. Telugu is still slightly ahead of Tamil with 23%, while Hindi leads with 38%, down 3% from last month.