South mid-year box office 2025: Malayalam-Tamil hold fort, Telugu-Kannada in crisis

India Today

19-07-2025

Six months into 2025, only a handful of films have truly rocked the box office. While the Malayalam and Tamil film industries are faring relatively well, the Telugu industry has struggled after a few early Sankranti hits. The Kannada industry, meanwhile, is still searching for a ray of hope, having had an abysmal start to the year.It was 2022 that marked the rise of South cinema with back-to-back hits across all industries. From 'RRR' to 'Vikram', 'KGF' and 'Kantara', these films won hearts not just in their native languages but across the country and even internationally. Since then, South cinema has consistently delivered memorable hits, often outperforming Bollywood, which is still trying to find stable footing in the post-Covid era.advertisement2025 has been a mixed bag for the South industries as well. Many films, big-budget ones at that, which were considered safe bets, flopped big time, while the small and medium-budget films, which remained dark horses, turned out to be fan favourites.
As July draws to a close, let us take a look at how the four South industries have performed at the box office.MOLLYWOOD MAINTAINS MOMENTUM DESPITE INITIAL SETBACKIn 2024, Malayalam cinema held its ground while the other three industries grappled with back-to-back blows. This year, too, Mollywood has churned out many memorable films. But, this year, it maintained the equilibrium with big-budget entertainers and content-backed cinema.The early months of 2025 were worrying - aside from the success of Asif Ali's 'Rekhachitram'. In February alone, 17 films released with a combined budget of Rs 75 crore. According to a report from the Kerala Film Producers Association (KFPA), the theatrical share of these films stood at a paltry Rs 23.55 crore.March saw Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran's 'L2: Empuraan' take over the box office. Despite being drowned in controversies, the film surpassed 'Manjummel' Boys' to become the highest-grossing Malayalam film.Trade analyst Ramesh Bala exclusively told India Today, that 'L2: Empuraan', followed by the success of Mohanlal's 'Thudarum', Basil Joseph's 'Ponman' and Kunchacko Boban's 'Officer on Duty', were among the top performers. 'Thudarum' became the first film to collect Rs 100 crore in Kerala alone. The industry continued to deliver more films which performed fairly well (considering its moderate budget). Films like Naslen's 'Alappuzha Gymkhana', Tovino Thomas's 'Narivetta', Roshan Mathew's 'Ronth' and Dileep's 'Prince and Family' received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.The first six months of 2025 exposed a pattern in terms of the audience's liking towards thrillers. While there were far and few exceptions, the majority of the hit films were thrillers.KOLLYWOOD'S MIXED BAG: ENTERTAINERS TRIUMPH OVER STAR POWERClosely following Malayalam cinema is Kollywood, which has had a mixed year so far. While there were a handful of films that dominated the box office, many big-budget anticipated films became duds at the box office. In the last six months, Ajith Kumar has had two releases - 'Vidaamuyarchi' and 'Good Bad Ugly'. His second offering remains the biggest hit of 2025 till June by collecting Rs 153 nett in India. Following 'Good Bad Ugly' is Pradeep Ranganathan's 'Dragon', which netted Rs 102 crore across India.advertisementExcept for 'Good Bad Ugly', many superstar films, including 'Vidaamuyarchi', Kamal Haasan's 'Thug Life', Suriya's 'Retro', Vikram's 'Veera Dheera Sooran' and Dhanush's 'Kuberaa' (hit in Telugu) had an underwhelming run at the box office. Small and medium-budget films, including 'Tourist Family', 'Maaman' and 'Kudumbasthan', attracted family audience to the theatres and made them leave with a smile on their faces. 'Tourist Family' raked in Rs 61 crore nett at the domestic box office, despite being made on a modest budget.Another surprise winner was the 12-year-old 'Madha Gaja Raja' outperforming director Shankar and Ram Charan's 'Game Changer' in Tamil Nadu. In fact, the Vishal-starrer was deemed the Pongal winner this year.Ruban Mathivanan, owner of GK Cinemas in Chennai, called 2025 summer the best in the last 2-3 years. "In our property, 'Good Bad Ugly', 'Dragon, 'Tourist Family' and 'Maaman' performed exceedingly well. Till May, we recorded great footfalls," he explained.Ruban observed a pattern in Tamil cinema where pure entertainers turned out to be crowd's favourite. "This year, till June, belongs to entertainers. People are having a hard time in their lives and when they visit theatres, they want to be entertained," he added.advertisementEchoing a similar thought, trade analyst Ramesh Bala said, "There is a decline in number of hits. However, we can see an outright rejection when it comes to middling films. Audiences have been showing no mercy to films that reek of mediocrity. These films hardly mint Rs 1-2 crore gross and there are so many such films this year."TOLLYWOOD'S ROCKY ROAD POST-SANKRANTI CONTINUESTelugu cinema, aka Tollywood, had a rocky first half, unlike Tamil and Malayalam cinema. The year started off with the biggest disappointment when Ram Charan's 'Game Changer' hit theatres. With Shankar at the helm, the film earned Rs 131.2 crore gross in India, a dangerously low number for a film that boasts superstars. However, other Sankranti releases, Venkatesh 'Sankranthiki Vasthunnam' and Balakrishna's 'Daaku Maharaaj' compensated for the loss by earning Rs 187 crore and Rs 91 crore nett in India.Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi's 'Thandel', Nani's 'HIT 3' and Dhanush's 'Kuberaa' made a splash. Smaller films (in terms of budget), including 'Court: State vs a Nobody' and 'Mad Square' collected Rs 40.7 crore nett and Rs 50 crore nett, respectively. 'Kannappa', which hit theatres towards the end of June, received a lukewarm response. advertisementAnupam Reddy, former secretary of the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce, at a press conference in Hyderabad, said, "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 fared so far."'Kuberaa' producer and exhibitor Suniel Narang pointed out that audiences are selective these days, while highlighting the current challenges. Stressing that content is king, the producer said, "Within hours of a film's release, opinions start flooding social media platforms like X, Instagram and YouTube. Real-time feedback heavily influences theatre footfall. Audiences are very clear about their choices - if they're investing in buying a theatre ticket, they want to be sure that the film is worth their time and money."SANDALWOOD HITS ROCK BOTTOMThe first half of 2025 has been terrible for Kannada films as the highest-grossing film (titled 'Choo Mantar') earned Rs 7.5 crore worldwide. The industry that gifted 'KGF' films and 'Kantara' hardly had any hits that even raked in double digits. Films like 'Agnyathavasi' and 'Edagaiye Apaghatakke Karana' received critical acclaim.advertisementIn terms of box office numbers, 'Choo Mantar' topped the charts, and is followed by 'Maadeva' and 'Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2'. Now, the industry is looking forward to Rishab Shetty's 'Kantara: Chapter 1', and Shiva Rajkumar-Raj B Shetty-Upendra's '45' to revive the industry from the slump.A PACKED SECOND HALF OF 2025Ruban Mathivanan pointed out that the second half of 2025 looks "jam-packed with many important spectacle films lined up for release." Rajinikanth's 'Coolie', Dhanush's 'Idly Kadai', Sivakarthikeyan's 'Madhrasi', Pawan Kalyan's 'Hari Hara Veera Mallu', 'They Call Him OG', Prabhas' 'The RajaSaab', Vijay Deverakonda's 'Kingdom', Mohanlal's 'Hridayapoorvam', 'Kantara: Chapter 1', and many other tentpole films, apart from many other small and medium-budget films are set to smash box office in the months to come.The first half of 2025 presents a tale of contrasts for South Indian cinema. However, with the success of the upcoming films, South cinema is poised for a potential revival.- Ends