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Time of India

Box office grows 27% in 2025, but Bollywood remains worried

Film producers and distributors are not enthused with the 27% year-on-year growth in all-India box office collection in the first five months of 2025, saying the growth does not capture the "existential" challenges that have engulfed the industry. These challenges have, consequently, created an acute sense of "nervousness" among all key stakeholders in the film industry, they said. The all-India box office collection rose to ₹4,812 crore between January and May this year from ₹3,791 crore in the year-ago period, according to the May box office report by media and entertainment research firm Ormax Media. "Are we looking at numbers or real growth? Last year was an election year. So, it seems there is growth in collection. There is a huge difference between film business in multiplexes and the B-class and C-class centres," said Yusuf Shaikh, CEO and founder, Janta Cinema, an exhibitor that showcases films at affordable prices. Shaikh said there are two critical challenges in the Hindi film industry . "We have lost 20-25% of the elite audience in theatres in the past few years. Even cheap ticket prices have not brought this audience to theatres," he said. Another major concern, said Shaikh, is the glaring absence of well-made mass entertainers. "It is an irony. Elite audiences are absent in theatres. The masses who come to theatres do not have credible mass entertainers to watch," he said. Most industry veterans believe that, incrementally, a sense of apathy is growing among audiences about watching Hindi films in theatres. "Today, the audience for whom watching films in theatres was a ritual is missing. This has impacted the average opening and collection of Hindi films," said a film distributor, who requested anonymity. "Consequently, today, the mass audience is watching regional or non-Hindi films in theatres." According to Ormax Media, the contribution of non-Hindi films-including English and other language films-to the all-India box office collection in the first five months of 2025 was a huge 63%, indicating an increasing acceptance of non-Hindi content by audiences in the Hindi belt. In the same period last year, the contribution of non-Hindi content to the all-India collection was 67%. This is because the share of collection of Hindi films to all-India collection grew to 37% in January-May 2025 from 33% in January-May 2024. Chhaava and Raid 2 were two noteworthy hits that contributed to this growth. "One or two hits do not promise change in the business situation. The Hindi film industry is disproportionately dependent on big-budget films. Today, the industry needs more successful mid-budget films ," said Prashen Kyawal, a creative, post-producer and media-tech consultant. Producer Rajesh R Nair concurs. "Instead of a big-budget film, we need a few mid-budget films, which have fresh stories and talent. The Hindi film industry must reinvent. Time has come to back fresh stories and new talent," he said.