Indian Entertainment Sees Theatrical Polarization, Streaming Reset in 2024, Says Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur in Industry Analysis (EXCLUSIVE)

Indian film and television veteran Siddharth Roy Kapur points to increasingly polarized theatrical results and a period of strategic recalibration in streaming as key trends that shaped Indian entertainment in 2024, characterizing it as a “hiatus year” dominated by business-to-business developments rather than consumer-facing initiatives.

“People are getting much more particular about which films they will watch in a movie theater,” says Roy Kapur, founder of Roy Kapur Films and former Disney India head in his yearly analysis of the Indian entertainment business for Variety. “The habits that got reinforced through COVID have only accelerated in terms of people deciding to come out for very specific films in a year theatrically.”

Roy Kapur notes that while successful theatrical releases are performing better than pre-pandemic levels, films that don’t generate strong word-of-mouth are underperforming compared to previous years. This polarization was amplified by fewer theatrical releases in 2024, which he attributes partially to production delays from COVID-19 and increased selectivity about theatrical projects.

The year saw particular success for franchise films, with “Pushpa 2: The Rise” demonstrating the potential for exponential growth between installments. The Hindi version of the first “Pushpa” film earned $45 million during its initial Omicron-impacted release, while the sequel has already grossed more than $200 million worldwide.

Roy Kapur attributes the strong performance of South Indian films in Hindi-language markets to their approach to heroism. “Hindi cinema has probably, in the last few years, not given mass audiences the kind of heroism that they want from their theatrical experiences,” he says, comparing characters in films like “Pushpa,” “K.G.F,” “RRR” and “Baahubali” to “Amitabh Bachchan from ‘Deewar’ on steroids.”

In the streaming sector, 2024 was marked by corporate restructuring, including Disney’s merger with Reliance’s Viacom18/Jio and the collapsed Sony-Zee deal. “That tends to lead to a general cooling down of the market,” Roy Kapur explains, noting that even uninvolved players like Netflix and Prime Video adopted a more measured approach during this period.

The streaming platforms’ focus on subscriber growth is expected to influence content strategies going forward. “Once you’ve already got your one level of subscribers, who are in a socio-economic position to be able to afford these services, you now need to broaden your reach,” Roy Kapur says. “Increasingly you are going to see much more mass and commercial cinema and series coming out from these platforms.”

Cricket remains a significant driver for both television and streaming platforms, but Roy Kapur emphasizes the importance of maintaining audience engagement between major sporting events. “You’ll always need those longer running series where you have characters that you want to live with across a longer period of time,” he says, noting the need to prevent subscriber churn between tournaments.

The industry veteran sees 2024’s relative quiet as a transitional period. “It’s been a year where everyone’s waited and watched because of all the business-to-business things that were going on, rather than that much of B2C,” he explains. “It was much more a B2B environment where there was so much activity on the consolidation side, on the merger side, happening, not happening.”

Looking ahead to 2025, Roy Kapur anticipates increased theatrical activity with major stars returning to screens after limited releases in 2024. His own production company has “Deva,” starring Shahid Kapoor, scheduled for theatrical release on Jan. 31, and “Matka King” set to premiere on Prime Video later in the year. He also notes that successful streaming shows are generating second and third seasons, indicating a maturing market.

“Next year you’re going to see a lot more consumer focus from each of the players as their businesses stabilize in whatever new form they’re in, and they become much more outward facing once again,” Roy Kapur says. Despite 2024’s challenges, he maintains his characteristic optimism: “I’m an eternal optimist, as you might have guessed over your years of talking to me, so I do think that next year there is definitely going to be a bit of an upturn.”

Hollywood’s performance in India was notably subdued in 2024, with Roy Kapur observing that successful Western releases often didn’t align with Indian audience preferences. “The ones that work in the West, or have worked in the West, I think this year, have tended not to be the kind that work in India,” he notes, adding that there might also be “a certain level of superhero fatigue” among audiences.