India's most profitable film of 2025 earned 1200% profit: How a ₹7 crore film beat Chhaava, Sitaare Zameen Par, Sikandar

Made for just ₹7 crore, this tiny film with no stars managed a box office beat that not even the biggest hits of Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, and Mohanlal did.

As the first half of 2025 ended, lists of what worked and what flopped at the box office this year emerged. Chhaava and L2: Empuraan dominated the box office, while smaller films like Thudarum and Sitaare Zameen Par earned some praise, too. But even as the box office collection reports were dominated by films breaking records, one tiny film with no stars managed to outdo them all, at least in terms of profitability.

Tourist Family starring Sasikumar, Simran, Mithun Jai Sankar and Kamalesh Jagan, made ₹90 crore worldwide.

India's most profitable film of 2025

The Tamil sleeper hit, Tourist Family, is the most profitable Indian film of this year so far. Made on a budget of just ₹7 crore, the Abishan Jeevinth-directed film earned over ₹90 crore worldwide, bringing its profit over its budget to an astounding 1200%. Tourist family is a slice-of-life comedy drama that stars M. Sasikumar, Simran, Mithun Jai Sankar and Kamalesh Jagan in the lead roles. The film, released on 29 April, received glowing reviews from critics and much love from the fans. The film earned ₹23 crore in its first week, but strong word of mouth meant that it did better in the second week, adding ₹29 crore more. After five weeks, the film finally ended its run with ₹90 crore worldwide, including ₹62 crore in India.

How Tourist Family beat Bollywood biggies

Chhaava is the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, earning ₹808 crore worldwide. But its ₹90-crore budget means that its profit is 'just' 800%. It is an impressive figure, but lower than what Tourist Family managed. Housefull 5 has not been able to turn a profit despite grossing ₹300 crore worldwide due to its high budget, as is the case for Salman Khan's Sikandar. Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par has managed 300% profit so far, with ₹260 crore gross on a ₹65-crore budget.

There are other films from Tamil and Malayalam cinema that have managed impressive profit margins, though. Tamil film Dragon also made 300% profit at the box office, while Malayalam hit Thudarum has 720% profitability. Sankranthiki Vasthunam, the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year, has also made around 300% profit over its ₹60-crore budget.