Indian Cinema Sets New Records as Pushpa 2 Crosses ₹1,000 Crore Mark
In December, the Telugu action-thriller film Puja 2 surpassed the ₹1,000 crore mark at the global box office worldwide, breaking the record as the fastest film to achieve this milestone. The film, directorial by Shankar-Ganesh, has been made in various languages for a wider audience.
Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao, secured India's official entry into the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards that are scheduled to take place early next year. However, it missed out on the shortlist of 15 chosen films for the category.
Film enthusiasts observed a year of biopics in 2024 with films like Sarfira, Chandu Champion, Srikanth, Amar Singh Chamkila, Maidaan, Main Atal Hoon, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, and more hitting big screens across India.
The year also witnessed several movie re-releases, including hit films from the 1960s. Tumbbad (2018), Laila Majnu (2018) made a comeback this year, right along with Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker (1970).
Filmmaker Payal Kapadia wrote history by becoming the first Indian to be nominated for Best Direction – Motion Picture for her directorial debut All We Imagine as Light at the 82nd Golden Globes. She secured another nomination in the category of Best Motion Picture Non-English Language. Moreover, the movie won the prestigious Grand Prix Award and the Grand Jury Prize-Diplomacy at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Hindi film Stree 2 emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024 by securing a revenue of over ₹874.58 crore worldwide (≈ $100 million).
A special jury award for acting was received by Preeti Panigrahi with her debut film Girls Will Be Girls directed by Shuchi Talati at Sundance, a milestone in the Indian acting fraternity.
Anasuya Sengupta made history as the first Indian actor to win Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival for her film The Shameless.
News broke out that after over two years of talks, Sony Group Corp and Zee Entertainment were unable to merge their media and entertainment divisions. This deal was expected to create India's largest company in the sector, but disputes over leadership led to its demise.
Additionally, a merger between Jio platforms, Viacom18, and The Walt Disney Company announced that they have agreed on the purchase of 60% stake by RIL's Viacom18 at an estimated ₹33,000 crore (valuing $3.9 billion).
The tour Dil-Luminati became India's highest-grossing concert to this year. Starring Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh, the concert was held across 11 cities with price range starting from ₹1,500.
Diljit Dosanjh made history by hosting International Emmy Awards, marking first time ever for an Indian in November. He won earlier that same year a trophy at the Netflix special Landing of his show.
RIL's Serum Institute of India CEO picked up stake amounting to ₹1,000 crores with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions in October this year, marking the beginning of collaborations between various big names in Bollywood.
Shakti, consisting tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia among other talented artists, won a Global Music Album category Grammy award for 'This Moment' at 2024 ceremonies.
Lastly, a popular drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali achieved significant viewership on Netflix. Starring Manisha Koirala and another prominent star Sonakshi Sinha, Heeramandi got featured in the top non-English series with over billion dollar views.