Hindi cinema 2025

Even as fans and audiences rave over the Dhurandhar frenzy, I cannot but help reiterate that just as one swallow does not make a summer, a few films that grossed high numbers does not constitute a good year.

- Rajiv Vijayakar

Chhaava and Saiyaara, and to an extent, Thamma. That's it. The all-Indian phenomena that are Mahavatar Narsimha and Kantara: A Legend—Chapter 1 are originally Telugu and Kannada respectively.Add a handful of tepid Hindi successes or hits (Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat, Tere Ishk Mein, Housefull 5, Sitaare Zameen Par and Raid 2) and we see a 'grand total of 10 'plus' films among an estimated 100-plus movies that were released in theatres! And that's an ominously low 10 percent success ratio, when movies in the 1970s and 1980s and even early 1990s showed a 60-70 percent figure! (And against the prevalent hype, even pan-Indian South cinema was a dud).

Let us analyze areas in which Hindi cinema needs correction—pronto!

Thunders Raj Bansal, veteran distributor and exhibitor, "That 2025 was marginally better than 2024, which had only Stree 2, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and the South's Pushpa 2: The Rule as big hits is no consolation!" He goes on, "First and foremost, we are not paying heed to content at all. We are not spending on stories and scripts, but just reveling on mirages like sequels and prequels! Look at the Salim-Javed decades where these vital aspects mattered!"

Bansal also rues that older successful filmmakers are "now sitting at home" because of this lack of content among market forces. "Random assistants are turning directors with the ethic, 'Kaam chalaa lenge!'" he says. And the final nails in the coffin, he notes, are the corporate bookings done in the initial days or weeks and the social influencers.

Taran Adarsh, trade analyst, adds one more vital point: "Make your content relevant to Tier-2 and Tier-3 centers, like