Bollywood's first quarter report card: Only Chhaava shines amid cold start to the box office

In Q1 2025, Chhaava stood out at the box office, while Sky Force and The Diplomat performed well. Despite trade dissatisfaction, there's optimism for Q2.

Published on: Apr 2, 2025, 10:45:06 IST

By Rishabh Suri

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Bollywood’s box office 'report card' for the first quarter of 2025 projects a rather bleak picture. Only one film has done extraordinary business in the first three months of this year Chhaava, featuring Vicky Kaushal in the lead role. Two other films have just about managed to draw audiences to the theatres - Akshay Kumar's Sky Force and The Diplomat, starring John Abraham.

Also read: Sikandar worldwide box office day 1 collection: Salman Khan film opens at just half of Jawan, fails to beat L2 Empuraan

Compare this to the corresponding period last year, and there were multiple hits such as Shaitaan, Article 370, and Crew. The industry is understandably unhappy.

Talking about Sikandar, the Eid release, trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, "One didn't expect this performance from a Salman Khan film. It started off okay due to the Eid holiday, but the foundation is weak for the numbers to sustain in the weekdays. Also, the BOGO and free ticket offers for the film are very unfortunate. It shows the phase the industry is going through."

Amit Sharma, managing director of Miraj Cinemas, however, is optimistic: "After five years of struggle, we now have a release every week. It's a spread-out calendar unlike last year, when multiple films released on the same day."

There's room for improvement in the second quarter, feels Devang Sampat, CEO, Cinepolis Cinemas. “Q2 looks very good, especially the combination of Hollywood and Bollywood films will give a huge boost this summer," he says.

THE MAJOR RELEASES THIS FAR

CHHAAVA 545 crore

SKY FORCE 131.44 crore

THE DIPLOMAT* 30 crore

DEVA 32 crore

BADASS RAVIKUMAR 9.66 crore

SIKANDAR* 55 crore

(*still running in theatres)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rishabh Suri
Rishabh Suri is an Assistant Editor, film critic, and professional overthinker of plot points. He writes for HT City, keeping pace with an industry where news cycles expire long before the popcorn gets cold. He completed his graduation in English Honours from Kirori Mal College, followed by a Master’s degree in English Literature-effectively training his brain to over-analyse classic texts before applying those exact same skills to 3-hour Bollywood blockbusters. He got into the profession when he had barely graduated from college and has been at HT ever since. At HT, Rishabh reviews films with a simple rule: skip the dense academic jargon and get straight to the point. Beyond reviews, as Assistant Editor, he helps navigate the broader circus of showbiz, tracking everything from OTT shifts to sudden box office panics. In a beat driven by loud PR machinery and carefully scripted answers, Rishabh prefers cutting through the noise to focus on how stories get made and why trends shift. When he isn’t writing against a deadline, he is usually sitting in a dark theater, compulsively memorising dialogues. For Rishabh, analysing movies isn't just a day job- it’s a habit he couldn't turn off even if he tried.Read More

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