Dec releases set stage for superhit 2025

Record ₹13,500 crore box office collection estimated this year

- ROSHNI SHEKHAR

With films across genres and languages hitting screens in December — from Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar to the patriotic Ikkis featuring the late Dharmendra, to Hollywood’s Avatar: Fire and Ash — cinema exhibitors expect the month’s box-office tally to clock between ₹1,500 crore and ₹2,000 crore, setting it up as one of 2025's standout performing months.

The industry is anticipating 2025 to deliver around ₹13,500 crore in overall box-office collections, which would cement it as India’s strongest box-office year after 2023. Multiplex chains, which struggled with footfall last year before Pushpa 2: The Rule reignited demand, have already expanded show counts to stay ahead of rising demand. PVR INOX expects the momentum to hold firm through the month.

Driving that momentum is the spy action thriller Dhurandhar, which crossed the ₹100 crore mark over its opening weekend. The JioStudios and B62 Studios production has collected ₹218 crore domestically in seven days, according to film trade analyst Girish Wankhede.