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Time of India

Hit films, strong content: D-Town aces first half of 2025

All The Best Pandya While there were apprehensions at the beginning of the year about how the Gujarati film industry will fare at a time when it's not easy to draw audiences to theatres, the first half of 2025 has certainly calmed everyone's nerves. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now According to distributors and industry insiders, this has been one of the best years for D-Town in recent times. Film distributor Vandan Shah says, 'It has been a very good first half for Gujarati cinema. Films like Umbarro and All the Best Pandya have done exceptionally well. Also, Jai Mata Ji Let's Rock was a hit. Even movies like Mom Tane Nai Samjay and Jija Sala Jija have done good business.' Says another distributor, 'Umbarro, All the Best Pandya and Jai Mata Ji Let's Rock have been the biggest winners at the box office. It's also heartening to see films like Bhram, Faati Ne? and Jija Sala Jija , which were not big-budget projects, have done well too.' Jai Mata Ji Let's Rock 'It is clear that audiences are eager to watch Gujarati films' Filmmakers say that they feel encouraged with the audience response this year. Rahul Bhole, co-director of All the Best Pandya, says, 'It has been one of our best films in terms of box office performance and the huge success of this film and Umbarro makes it clear that audiences are eager to watch Gujarati films. In a year when even Bollywood has struggled, except for huge hits like Chhaava, it gives us hope. Even films like Bhram, which had a slow start, later did well due to positive word-of-mouth publicity. Already, this has been one of the best years for the industry.' Sonaalee Lele Desai, who played the lead role in Bhram and was also a part of Mithada Maheman, which has done well too, agrees, 'Post pandemic, thriller has been a popular genre but Bhram had a slow start at the box office. But Sunday onwards, the film started doing really well not just in Gujarat, but in Mumbai too. It shows that if you have a good story, audiences are willing to invest in Gujarati films.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'Films belonging to different genres found their own audience' Industry experts are glad that films belonging to different genres have worked, which means audiences are giving a thumbs up to experimentation. Abhishek, director of Umbarro, says, 'While making a film, you can never predict the box office numbers. However, we were confident about our film and right from the beginning, the intent was to tell an entertaining story that will make audiences laugh as well as cry. We wanted to make a film that would appeal to all age groups. ' He adds, 'Be it our film, Faati Ne?, Bhram or the other movies that have done well, films belonging to different genres found their own audience. Having such a dedicated audience for Gujarati films means a lot to us. It's wonderful to see that films that are very different from each other found their own audience. At least six-seven Gujarati films have done really well at the box office in the first six months of 2025. It proves there is a dedicated audience for good Gujarati films, which is a huge thing for us. ' Bhram Best performing D-Town films of 2025 Umbarro All the Best Pandya Jai Mata Ji Let's Rock Bhram Faati Ne? -Source: Local distributors