Box Office tide turns as small films make big waves
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Mumbai: India's film industry earned ₹5,723 crore in domestic box office collections in the first half of 2025, a 14% rise from a year earlier, according to Ormax Media. This year's performance also showed a shift in industry dynamics, with reduced dependency on high-budget blockbusters, and stronger contribution from a wider pool of mid-sized films across languages.Executives said this trend is a welcome development in a sector that has long grappled with volatility linked to a few major releases. Seventeen films crossed the ₹100-crore mark between January and June, up from ten in the same period of 2024, according to Ormax's latest 'India Box Office Report'. The increase, however, was not driven by a handful of mega-hits, but by a consistent stream of mid- to high-performing titles.Among the top earners, 'Chhaava' led with ₹693 crore, followed by Telugu-language film 'Sankranthiki Vasthunam'. Only one film crossed the ₹250-crore mark so far, underscoring the broader spread of box office revenues."Jan-Jun 2025 has laid a strong foundation for the year's box office performance. Compared to 2024, there is a reduced reliance on big-ticket blockbusters, with a greater number of films crossing the ₹100 crore mark. This indicates a more robust long-tail contribution," said Sanket Kulkarni, head of business development (theatrical) at Ormax Media. "The share of the top 10 films in the overall Jan-Jun box office has declined from 44% in 2024 to 39% in 2025, a sign of broader participation across titles.""The language-wise distribution of ₹100 crore-plus films is also healthier in 2025. For instance, while 2024 had no Tamil film in this category, 2025 has seen three Tamil films cross the mark, increasing Tamil cinema's contribution from 12% in 2024 to 17% in the Jan-Jun 2025 period," he said. "Additionally, Hollywood has seen significant growth, with its Jan-Jun box office collections nearly doubling compared to the same period in 2024." Industry executives also pointed to the encouraging performance of smaller-budget and mid-scale films, which are increasingly holding their own in theatres.
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