Box office glossary

The words used across our box office pages, in plain English.

India nett

Money collected from ticket sales in India after GST is taken out. Our main figure for collections, records and verdicts.

India gross

Ticket sales in India including GST: what audiences paid. Usually about 18% higher than nett.

GST

Goods and Services Tax on cinema tickets: 18% on tickets above ₹100, 12% on tickets at ₹100 or less.

Overseas

Collections outside India, usually reported in US dollars or the currency of each country.

Worldwide gross

India gross plus overseas gross.

Crore and lakh

1 crore = 10 million (1,00,00,000). 1 lakh = 100,000. ₹100 crore = ₹1 billion.

Footfalls

The number of tickets sold, that is, how many visits to the cinema a film got. Where it isn't reported, it is estimated from gross and the average ticket price.

Occupancy

The share of seats sold for a show, a day or a city: seats sold divided by seats available. 40% occupancy means four in ten seats were filled.

Advance booking

Tickets sold before the shows take place, usually tracked for the opening days of a film.

Live collection

Collections from shows that have already played during the day, updated as the day goes on.

Paid previews

Paid shows held before the official release date. Listed separately, not counted as day 1.

Opening day, weekend and week

Opening day is the release date. The opening weekend runs from release day to the first Sunday (longer if the film opens mid-week or on a holiday). The first week is days 1 to 7.

PIC chains

Short for PVR, INOX and Cinepolis, India's national multiplex chains (PVR and INOX are now one company, PVR INOX). Their combined figure is often reported on its own and shows how a film is doing in multiplexes.

Single screens

Stand-alone cinemas with one screen, often with lower ticket prices. Strong single-screen business usually means wide mass appeal.

MG (minimum guarantee)

A fixed amount a distributor pays a producer for the rights to release a film in a territory, whatever the film earns. If the film earns less, the distributor bears the loss.

Distributor share

The part of nett collections that goes back to the distributor after the cinemas take their share. Usually around half of nett, varying by week and region.

Circuit or territory

A region of India for film distribution, such as Mumbai, Delhi-UP or Nizam (Telangana).

Drop or hold

How much a film's collection falls from one day or week to the next. A small drop is a strong hold.

Verdicts

Our judgement of a film's commercial result, from lowest to highest: Disaster, Flop, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Hit, Superhit, Blockbuster, All-Time Blockbuster. Based on India nett compared with the film's cost and expectations. See methodology.

Lifetime

A film's total collection over its whole run in cinemas.

HypoMeter

Our readers' vote on how excited they are for an upcoming film.