India's most profitable film of 2024 earned 45x its budget, ₹3 crore movie with no stars beat Pushpa 2, Kalki, Stree 2

This tiny film with no stars earned 45 times its budget at the box office, eclipsing some of the biggest Indian blockbusters of the year.

Updated on: Jan 3, 2025, 12:36:56 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

2024 was a blockbuster year for Indian cinema. Two films crossed ₹1000 crore at the global box office, and one came close to the mark. One could argue that these three films - Pushpa 2: The Rule, Kalki 2898 AD, and Stree 2 - were the biggest box office hits of the year. However, if one talks about the most profitable Indian film - that crown went to a ₹3 crore film with no big stars. (Also read: World's most profitable film of 2024 earned 45x its budget, beat Joker 2, bigger hit than Pushpa 2, Deadpool & Wolverine)

India's most profitable film of 2024

Malayalam romantic drama Premalu is the most profitable Indian film of 2024. Made on a budget of just ₹3 crore with no big names in the cast, the film had a lukewarm start but built solidly via word of mouth. In the end, it earned a staggering ₹136 crore, becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. The 45x profit it earned was the highest for any Indian film this year and one of the highest ever.

How Premalu 3 beat Pushpa 2, Kalki 2898 AD, Stree 2

Premalu's 45x profit margin makes it one of the biggest success stories in Indian cinema history. Only Secret Superstar and Jai Santoshi Maa managed bigger box office returns compared to their budgets. Bigger films can never come close to this number as their production budgets are too high. For instance, Pushpa 2 is the highest-grossing Indian film of 2024, with ₹1800 crore gross. But that number is just five times its budget of ₹350 crore. Kalki 2898 AD's profit percentage is just twice of its ₹600-crore budget. Stree 2 was Bollywood's big winner of the year, but even its ₹875 crore gross is around 10 times its ₹90 crore budget.

About Premalu

Directed by Girish AD, Premalu is a coming-of-age romantic drama. It stars newcomers Naslen K. Gafoor and Mamitha Baiju, alongside Sangeeth Prathap, Akhila Bhargavan, Shyam Mohan, Meenakshi Raveendran, Mathew Thomas and Althaf Salim.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

Box Office

Oscars 2024: From Nominees to Red Carpet Glam! Get Exclusive Coverage on HT. - Click Here!

Get more updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.