Indian films out-perform Australian releases at the local box office

It seems fitting amid Diwali celebrations: a new report has found that, in a first in the English-speaking world, Indian films have overtaken Australian releases at the local box office.

Film industry executive Nick Hayes, who has released the report ahead of a major cinema industry conference next week, says films in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and other Indian languages have become Australia’s third biggest market – behind only American and British films.

They have surged from taking $32.5 million in 2021 to an expected $50 million this year.

In the same period, Hayes says, the “lacklustre” box office for Australian films has slumped from $54.2 million to an expected $16.8 million this year.

“Australia is now the first major English-language market where a non-Anglophone film sector has out-performed the national industry on home soil — a structural milestone unseen in the US, UK or Canada,” he says.

Hayes, who has held senior roles at Dendy Cinemas, Icon Film Distribution and Umbrella Entertainment, says the strength of Indian diaspora audiences, a reliable supply of films and community-driven marketing are behind the Indian success.

Box office data from Numero shows the biggest Indian hits in the past five years have been Animal ($5.2 million, Hindi language), Pathaan ($4.7 million, Hindi), Jawan ($4.7 million, Hindi), Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2 ($4.5 million, Telugu) and RRR ($3.6 million, Telugu).

If the trend over the past five years continues, Hayes believes New Zealand films – and possibly even Chinese and French films – could also overtake Australian releases.

The report, Audiences Speak - It’s Time We Listen, looks at opportunities for cinemas to increase audiences from multicultural communities ahead of the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast.

“While one in five Australians speaks a language other than English at home, fewer than one in 10 cinema tickets are sold to non-English-language titles,” it says. “Walk into any cinema in Sydney or Melbourne on a Saturday night and you can hear a dozen languages in the foyer: Arabic, Tagalog, Hindi, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Greek.

“But when the lights dim, almost every screen speaks English.”

The report discounts Australian films that have gone directly to streaming services, including the hugely popular The Stranger on Netflix, How To Make Gravy on Binge and a raft of Christmas films on Stan (which shares an owner, Nine, with this masthead) and other platforms.

Hayes says these films are visible only to subscribers of each streamer, and even then can struggle to be noticed given how many new films and TV series are released each month.

“The cultural impact of watching films at home is orders of magnitude below watching them at a cinema,” he says. “You’re less likely to remember them.

“They are less likely to be in the cultural zeitgeist as a result. So if films want to make an impact, they need to be in a cinema.”

The Australian box office is expected to continue its post-COVID recovery with takings of about $1 billion this year. That is up on last year’s $951 million but still short of the more than $1.2 billion posted in 2019.

While films in English are still overwhelmingly dominant, the report says their market share has dipped from about 95 per cent in 2021 to 91 per cent this year.

“Indian languages remain the only foreign-language sector to achieve near parity between population and screen share,” it says. “Mandarin, Arabic and Vietnamese populations remain significantly under-served relative to their demographic weight.”

Hayes says the report should have alarm bells ringing about the role of Screen Australia – the federal government’s film and TV agency – in supporting local cinema releases, particularly when it comes to ensuring such marketing assets as stills, artwork and trailers are up to standard.

“The Screen Australia Act (2008) already empowers the agency to promote and distribute Australian films - responsibilities rarely exercised in practice,” it says. “Applying those statutory powers with the same rigour devoted to production funding could redefine how Australian cinema connects with its audiences.”

Screen Australia chief executive Deirdre Brennan says “the time is right for an independent review of current feature film distribution and exhibition systems to ensure Australians can see their stories reflected on the big screen”, adding “one thing we will always agree on is the role these stories play in building a stronger and richer society”.

Brennan says connecting local stories with Australian audiences is at the heart of what the agency does.

“Our new corporate plan shows our commitment to help creators reach Australians holistically – from audience development and testing, through to marketing and long-term distribution strategy. We take this role seriously, whether across feature films in cinemas, streaming platforms, free-to-air TV, games or direct-to-audience.”

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