India’s theatrical market is flexing serious muscle in 2025, with the first six months delivering a robust 14% uptick that positions the market for a potential record-breaking year ahead.
The cumulative box office for January through June releases clocked in at INR5,723 crore ($664.2 million), marking a significant jump from the same period in 2024 and landing just INR12 crore ($1.4 million) shy of the all-time Jan-June record set in 2022, according to Ormax Media’s latest India Box Office Report.
June capped off the strong half-year showing with gross collections crossing $104.5 million, including projected future earnings from releases still playing in theaters. Hindi-language pics “Sitaare Zameen Par” ($23.3 million) and “Housefull 5” ($23.2 million) emerged as the month’s top earners. Tamil/Telugu-language title “Kuberaa” ($12.3 million) and Hollywood entry “F1: The Movie” rounded out June’s major contributors.
The momentum suggests 2025 could close at $1.57 billion — which would make it the best year ever at Indian cinemas. That projection is based on the Jan-June period typically accounting for 42% of annual box office over the past two years. All these numbers are local collections only and do not include international grosses for Indian films.
Whether that prediction materializes will hinge on the performance of heavyweight releases slated for the back half of the year, including “Kantara: Chapter 1,” “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “War 2,” “Coolie,” “Akhanda 2,” “Thama,” and “OG.”
The first half of 2025 saw 17 films cross the INR100 crore ($11.6 million) gross mark each, nearly doubling the 10 titles that hit that threshold in the same period last year. However, with only one film surpassing INR250 crores ($29 million), this year has relied less on mega-blockbusters and more on a steady stream of solid performers in the INR100 crore-plus range.
“Chhaava” emerged as the first half’s highest-grossing title at $80.4 million, followed by Telugu-language film “Sankranthiki Vasthunam” at $25.8 million. Other notable performers included “Raid 2” ($23.1 million), “Good Bad Ugly” ($21.2 million), “Game Changer” ($17.8 million), “Thudarum” ($16.7 million), “Sky Force” ($15.1 million), “L2E Empuraan” ($14.6 million), and “Dragon” ($14.2 million).
The linguistic breakdown remained consistent with 2024’s cumulative figures. Hindi maintained its dominance with a 39% market share, while Telugu and Tamil claimed 19% and 17% respectively. Malayalam captured 10% of the market, matching Hollywood’s return to double-digit territory for the first time in three years.
variety.com
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