Big Budgets, Thin Crowds: Around ₹1,000cr in the red! Tollywood's costly first half of 2025
Producers, exhibitors and trade insiders say soaring ticket prices, poor planning, piracy and content fatigue are keeping audiences away — a mix that analysts say reflects shifting audience behaviour and evolving industry challenges.
The numbers that tell the story
(Jan–June 2025)
₹2,000–₹2,500 Cr
Estimated investments in film production and distribution across AP & Telangana
₹1,200–₹1,500 Cr
Approximate gross collections from theatres during the same period
Industry voices: What's behind the slump?
Stakeholders across the board agree that a shift in audience expectations is reshaping Tollywood.
Price sensitivity, real-time feedback via social media, and the convenience of OTT viewing are contributing to declining theatre footfalls—even for star-driven films.
'For a normal man, cinema is entertainment. But we've turned it into luxurious entertainment by increasing the ticket prices,' says Producer Prasanna Kumar. 'Theatres must bring back the middle class — families who used to make cinema outings a weekly affair.
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Now it's only the elite and hardcore fans who show up.'
Another concern is the lack of all-age content. 'We haven't had many films that you can comfortably watch with the entire family,' Reddy points out. 'That's one of the reasons Sankranthiki Vasthunam worked. It filled that void. The rest have largely targeted specific audiences, like youth or mass centres.'
What's ahead: Eyes on the biggies
Despite the grim first half, there's cautious optimism for the rest of 2025.
A slate of big-ticket films is expected to hit screens between July and December, including Hari Hara Veera Mallu, Coolie, War II, Kingdom, and The Raja Saab, which could potentially change the narrative.
'In 2022 and 2023, we saw how Telugu films like RRR and Karthikeya 2 dominated even the Hindi market,' says TS Ram Prasad. 'We're hopeful that the second half of this year will bring back that momentum.'
With several star-driven, pan-India projects in the pipeline, the industry is banking on these titles to bring audiences back to theatres and revive the box office after a lacklustre first half.
Until then, all eyes are firmly on what the second half of 2025 has in store.
Looking back at the last six months, I can only name about six movies that actually did well at the box office and that clearly explains how the industry has been so far. OTT revenues add 20–30% to a film's overall success, but that's not enough to bridge the wide gap.
– Anupam Reddy, Former Secretary of the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce
Today's audience is selective.
Content is king. Within hours of a film's release, opinions start flooding social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and even YouTube. That real-time feedback heavily influences theatre footfalls. Audiences are very clear about their choices—if they're investing in a theatre ticket, they want to be sure it's worth their time and money.
– Producer and Exhibitor Suniel Narang
Within five hours of a film's release, pirated versions are available online.
Add to that the fact that most films drop on OTT within 50 days, and you've got little incentive for the audience to visit a theatre.
– TS Ram Prasad, Chairman of the Exhibitors Sector of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce
Tollywood's first half of 2025 has been anything but smooth. Despite a steady stream of releases, only a handful managed to perform at the box office, with most films falling short of expectations. Factors like high ticket prices, production delays, weak content, piracy, and rapid OTT turnarounds have kept audiences away from theatres. As losses mount and investments fall short of recovery, industry stakeholders are now pinning their hopes on big upcoming releases to turn the tide in the months ahead.
– Divya Shree
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