The film landscape for 2025 is loaded with diverse content but expectations are high from Salman’s Sikandar, which is set to release on the occasion of Eid in March.
Among the films heading into theatres are Kangana Ranaut’s political drama Emergency, Akshay Kumar’s war film Sky Force, Shahid Kapoor’s action-packed thriller Deva and Vicky Kaushal-starrer historical drama Chhaava, which chronicles the life of Maratha king Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.
The second half of 2025 has a remarkable lineup of films like the sequel to popular titles such as Jolly LLB 3, Raid 2, Housefull 5, War 2, Baaghi 4, De De Pyaar De, and Son of Sardaar 2.
In addition to this, there are other releases such as Varun Dhawan’s romantic-comedy film with father David Dhawan, Shahid Kapoor’s actioner which is helmed by Vishal Bhardwaj, a horror-thriller Dil Ka Darwaaza Khol Na Darling! Starring Kajol, Jaya Bachchan, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Wamiqa Gabbi and Swanand Kirkire, Alpha, Yash Raj Films’ next Spy Universe movie starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, and Aamir’s Sitaare Zameen Par.
According to Nitin Datar, president of the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India, and Amit Sharma, MD of Miraj Entertainment Limited, the 2025 lineup looks promising.
“It’s tough to guess now which film will do well because publicity has not started. However, 2025 looks good and I’m looking forward to the release of Sikandar, Housefull 5, Jolly LLB 3, Emergency and Chhaava. The rest of the films will be slow starters but may pick up,” Datar says.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says there’s an “overdose” of franchise films. He acknowledged the risk of audience fatigue but is hopeful that each film will attain commercial success.
“It’s going to be a strong 2025, there’s a good line-up of movies. There’s going to be an overdose of franchises and sequels. Let’s place our bets on every film that comes in,” Adarsh says.
Trade expert Girish Wankhede feels Salman Khan’s Sikandar might set the tone for an eventful year, which will also see Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par arriving in theatres by mid-2025.
“In addition to these star-studded releases, the upcoming year will witness a plethora of sequels and prequels, both from the South Indian film industry and Bollywood. Each film is expected to feature stellar casts and possess immense potential to captivate audiences,” Wankhede says.
Adarsh underscores the importance of quality content and urged the Hindi film industry to move away from remakes of South Indian films.
“In the coming days, we will see more quality projects and that’s because we’ve learnt an important lesson that we need to concentrate on content, and need to stop making remakes because they are not working.
