Box office report card 2025 | How word-of-mouth's return gave Bollywood its most Dhurandhar year ever

From blockbusters like Dhurandhar, Chhava, and Kantara Chapter 1 to sleeper hits such as Saiyaara, Laalo, and Lokah, the 2025 box office saw success all over.

Till December, many trade pundits in Indian cinema had marvelled how no Indian film in 2025 had crossed the ₹1000-crore mark, considered the benchmark for an ‘all-time blockbuster’. Kantara Chapter One came close, Chhaava threatened it for a bit. But both failed. Till Dhurandhar sailed past the mark in just over three weeks, it seemed as if the year would end for Indian cinema without a ‘1000-crore hit’. But would that have been any indication of how stellar the year has been for Indian cinema? Not by a mile. At the box office, in terms of revenue, diversity, and range across genres and languages, this has been the best year for Indian cinema, a resounding comeback after the dark depths of the pandemic years.

Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar is the biggest box office success story of 2025.

Indian box office breaks all-time record in 2025

Trade sources say that the cumulative box office revenue for all Indian films in 2025 is expected to surpass the ₹13500 crore mark domestically. This includes three films - Dhurandhar, Chhaava, and Kantara Chapter One - which have each breached the ₹500-crore mark. The final earning is a record for Indian cinema, beating the previous mark of ₹12,226 crore set in 2023. That was the year when Jawan, Pathaan, and Animal led the charge, while Salaar also chipped in. It is fair to say that, despite the absence of mega blockbusters (beyond Dhurandhar), 2025 has easily surpassed the previous years, including even the pre-pandemic years.

Saiyaara and Chhaava were both huge box office successes, leading Bollywood's charge.

Wins across languages and genres

One of the hallmarks of this stellar year for Indian cinema was how success at the box office was not limited only to a few genres, or led by the usual suspects from Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil cinema. Saiyaara, Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat, and Tere Ishk Mein marked the return of romance at the box office. Two industries - Gujarati and Malayalam - gave their best-performing films ever. Malayalam cinema saw its all-time record broken twice, first with L2: Empuraan and then with Lokah Chapter 1.

Laalo Krishna Sada Sahaayate, made for just ₹50 lakh, earned 240x its budget, and became the highest-grossing Gujarati film of all time.

Devang Sampat, Managing Director, Cinépolis India, says, “What defines this year is breadth across languages. Regional cinema has been the backbone. At Cinépolis, titles like Laalo, Lokah Chapter 1, and Little Hearts drove consistent midweek footfalls beyond their home markets. Laalo crossed approximately ₹77 crore to become the highest-grossing Gujarati film of all time.”

Word of mouth is back, baby!

The advent of social media and the dramatic shift in viewing patterns after the pandemic had scared many into thinking that films would never again have long runs. While Kantara and The Kashmir Files still broke through every once in a while, there were a few films that sustained through weekdays and built over time, as Aamir Khan’s films had a decade ago. 2025 changed that as Dhurandhar, Laalo, Lokah Chapter One, and Chhaava all managed this feat.

Dhurandhar's success was enabled by some splendid word of mouth across the country.

Dhurandhar’s stellar run across its second and third weeks broke box office records every single day, something unseen since the days of Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and Gadar. After the film registered one of the best first Mondays ever, trade analyst Taran Adarsh had written, “At several centres, the Monday [Day 4] business was higher than Friday [Day 1] – a rarity that occurs only when the word of mouth is extraordinary. Let's be loud and clear: Dhurandhar is not going to slow down anytime soon.”

Re-releases shine yet again

2025 was also a year when re-releases, something that began as an ad hoc experiment, became a planned strategy. They have gone from ‘being calendar fillers to a genuine programming category’, says Devang Sampat of Cinepolis. The re-release of Sholay generated over ₹1.50 crore at the box office, a stellar number. Sampat attributes this success to pricing. “Re-release tickets are typically 30-35% lower than new releases, around ₹170-180 versus approximately ₹260,” he argues.

Sholay re-released in 4K this year, and despite being the most-watched Indian film ever, still drew audiences to the theatres.

Speaking to us earlier in the year about the success of re-releases, Niharika Bijli, Lead Strategist at PVR INOX, attributed it to a mix of nostalgia and younger audiences’ craze for these films. "There's that nostalgic pull. But it's not just them. New people are discovering these. So, it's definitely a testament to the big screen experience, because these films are available everywhere. There is something about experiencing them in this format with people, with other people in this shared space that is doing something,” she said.

There is a lesson to be learned from Indian cinema’s performance at the box office in 2025. That is that the audience wants good stories and a balanced slate. Repeating the same formula may yield short-term gains, but it ultimately fizzles out in the long run. Here’s hoping these lessons can be carried forward for an even stronger 2026.