From luxury seating to packed single screens, India’s box office is witnessing a historic, post-pandemic surge this year. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which crossed ₹100 crore in gross collections within the first week of its release, is just the latest blockbuster riding the wave. What’s remarkable is the broad-based growth across Hindi, Hollywood and regional language films, making it the highest grossing first half of any year post Covid. With a strong line-up of films in the second half, the year promises to be a milestone one for movie ticket sales, which are expected to cross the ₹15,000 crore mark, according to Ormax Media.PVR INOX’s investor presentation states that box-office collections in India grew 20 per cent in the January-June period to ₹6,665 crore from ₹5,570 crore a year ago, outpacing international markets.What enthuses Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive Director, PVR INOX, is the growth beyond metros in tier-2 and tier-3 markets. “Consumers are coming to watch not just the big-budget films but also the mid-scale and small films that are not star-driven,” he said.Box-office boomNotes Bijli, “Films that are now touching the ₹100 crore mark were, even two years ago, stopping at ₹30-40 crore. Main Vaapas Aaunga has grossed nearly ₹100 crore. A horror English film like Obsession also garnered ₹100 crore. These are all sleeper hits, and such smaller movies earning nearly ₹100 crore is a very positive sign.”