Mid-Budget Films Revived Indian Theatres in 2025, What Will 2026 Look Like?

For much of the post-pandemic period, Indian theatres appeared to have accepted a brutal binary. Either a film arrived as a ₹400–600 crore spectacle, made to explode on opening weekend, or it exited the conversation altogether — diverted to streaming, often without promotion. The mid-budget theatrical film, once the spine of Hindi cinema and a steady contributor across industries, seemed to have vanished.

And yet, 2025 has unsettled that assumption.

This year, while several heavily mounted tentpoles underperformed, a clutch of films in the ₹80–100 crore range — and, crucially, titles that didn’t announce themselves as “events” — have sustained footfalls, bridged calendar gaps, and in some cases become outliers. Theatres did not revive because of a single phenomenon, but because of an uneasy convergence: audience fatigue with hollow spectacle, the retreat of OTT safety nets, and exhibitors recalibrating programming in real time.

“2025 has dismantled long-held assumptions about what works and what doesn’t,” Niharika Bijli, Lead Strategist at PVR INOX Ltd, told The Hollywood Reporter India.

“Audiences now prioritise sincerity over scale. They’re seeking intense, deeply felt experiences in theatres — whether it’s love, anger, nostalgia, or sheer unfiltered joy. Feeling over fluff is firmly back.” Bijli’s emphasis on emotional pull rather than production scale recurs across industries this year. Films that delivered a visceral experience — irrespective of budget — managed to draw audiences, often without the opening-weekend hysteria once considered non-negotiable. “That’s why films that delivered emotional force have performed,” she said, pointing to titles such as Saiyaara, Mahavatar Narasimha and Lokah, alongside re-releases including Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Om Shanti Om, Devdas, Umrao Jaan, Dil Se and even Satyajit Ray’s Nayak. “They have all been able to get their audiences to cinemas.”

The pattern is echoed by exhibitors on the ground. Akkshay Rathie, film exhibitor, described the return of the mid-segment film as not merely visible but essential. “The mid-segment film has made a return. Some of these films have actually become outliers in the best sense,” he tell us.

He cited Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari as an example — a film modest in scale that exceeded expectations within its genre. However, Rathie is careful to resist romanticising the mid-budget resurgence as a solution in itself. “What theatres truly need is not just mid-segment films, and not just tentpoles, but a very healthy mix of both,” he said. “Ideally, every month should have at least one tentpole — whether from Hollywood, the southern industries, or Hindi cinema. Between those tentpoles, you need mid-segment films that carry you from one big release to the next, keeping your operating costs covered.”

That distinction between survival and sustainability defines much of 2025. Mid-budget films may have kept theatres alive, but the absence or underperformance of expected blockbusters left exhibitors exposed. Rathie is blunt about this imbalance. “Had it not been for Chhaava, Saiyaara, Mahavatar Narasimha — and of course Kantara and Dhurandhar — exhibitors would have been in really bad shape this year,” he said. “We were expecting much more from films like War 2, Coolie and Thug Life. They just didn’t deliver.”

The fragility of the ecosystem becomes clearer when viewed through a trade lens. Ramesh Bala, trade analyst, situates 2025 within a longer arc of uneven recovery. “If you look at the post-pandemic recovery, the southern markets bounced back slightly faster than Hindi cinema,” he says.

While none of the industries have fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, the south benefited from structural advantages — capped ticket prices, strong star-driven opening cultures, and clearly defined home markets. “In states like Tamil Nadu, ticket prices are capped, unlike in Mumbai or Delhi where multiplex tickets are extremely expensive,” Bala noted. “This ensures that audiences still turn up, at least over the weekend, and if the film is exceptionally good, even on weekdays.”

Volume also plays a decisive role. “Bollywood releases far fewer films now,” Bala said. “In contrast, in the south — across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam — you’ll see multiple releases every week. That volume keeps theatres active and audiences habituated to the theatrical experience.” Medium- and small-budget films such as Tourist Family, Bison, and Good Bad Ugly may not dominate national discourse, but they keep the machinery running.

Perhaps the most consequential shift of 2025, however, lies outside box office charts altogether. The OTT-first model that once absorbed risk has receded. “Streaming platforms have become far more selective,” Bala said. “They are no longer buying films the way they did during the pandemic.” The result is stark: theatrical release has once again become the primary filter for streaming acquisition. “The safety net has almost completely disappeared,” Bala explained. “Today, in nearly 90 per cent of cases, producers are releasing films without any assured pre-release revenue.” What once allowed a ₹100 crore film to recover half its cost through satellite and streaming deals no longer applies. Theatres are once again the highest-risk, highest-stakes window.

This recalibration has also reshaped the role of re-releases, which started in 2025 not as desperation programming but as cultural events. “Re-releases have been far more than fillers this year,” Bijli said. “They kept screens active during weeks that might have otherwise felt lean, drawing in a younger audience eager to experience older films on the big screen.”

Crucially, Bijli resists reducing re-releases to footfall math. “They serve a much larger purpose,” she said. “They allow us to revisit titles, restore them to our cultural memory, and spark conversations that go beyond box office numbers.” Films such as Parineeta and Lootera may not have generated spectacular collections, but their afterlife — songs trending, renewed discussion — signals a broader cultural ripple.

Rathie concurs, but with a caveat. “Re-releases can’t just be paradrops,” he said. “They need to be well-planned, well-marketed properties — events, essentially.” He points to Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday re-releases as examples of intent and visibility making the difference between nostalgia and indifference.

Regional cinema, too, has altered the theatrical map. Gujarati films, once treated as niche, now travel beyond state borders. “Gujarati cinema has moved from a niche space to a steady performer,” Bijli said. Exhibitors have responded by offering better time bands, longer runs and integrated programming. Rathie situates this within a larger national opportunity. “Every regional fraternity in India has tremendous potential,” he said, citing industries from Chhattisgarhi to Assamese. “What’s missing is a more organised, audience-first approach.”

So what does 2026 demand?

Not grand events, but consistency. Regular release intervals. Curated re-releases. Mid-budget films valued for intrinsic connection, not just cost sheets. And tentpoles that arrive when they’re ready — not clustered around festivals to cannibalise one another. “Story-driven cinema — rich in diversity, rooted in cultural resonance,” is how Bijli describes the road ahead. Rathie adds the cautionary note: without a steady cadence of big films, the system cannot hold. Bala, meanwhile, reminds us that theatres have reclaimed centrality, not by choice, but by default.

In 2025, the mid-budget film endured. And in doing so, it reminded the industry that survival, unlike spectacle, is built film by film.