Top 10 Highest-Grossing Indian Films of 2025: From 'Dhurandhar' and 'Kantara: Chapter 1' to 'Saiyaara'
India’s 10 highest-grossing films of 2025 have collectively amassed ₹5,500 crore-plus worldwide, underlining a sharply top-heavy year at the box-office; here's a breakdown of the year that went by
No one could have predicted that Dhurandhar, tracking for a modest opening—and shrouded in doubt ahead of its release—would go on to become the only title of the year to cross ₹1,000 crore worldwide, cementing itself as one of the biggest hits in the history of Indian cinema. Equally unthinkable was the idea that two of the year’s most formidable releases, Coolie and War 2, arriving on the same day and fronted by crowd-pulling superstars, would collapse so dramatically.
The Indian box-office in 2025 thrived on shocks and surprises. It pulled no punches in delivering the good, the bad and the blockbuster. Here's a breakdown of the year that went by (all trade figures are worldwide gross as per industry tracker Sacnilk).
Top 10 Highest Grossing Indian Films of 2025 at the Box-Office:
Dhurandhar – ₹1000+ crore
Kantara: Chapter 1 – ₹852 crore
Chhaava – ₹808 crore
Saiyaara – ₹570 crore
Coolie – ₹518 crore
War 2 – ₹364 crore
Mahavatar Narsimha – ₹327 crore
Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra – ₹304 crore
They Call Him OG – ₹295 crore
Housefull 5 – ₹289 crore
India’s top 10 highest-grossing films of 2025 have collectively amassed ₹5,500 crore-plus worldwide, underlining a sharply top-heavy year at the box office. The top five films alone contributed ₹3,748 crore-plus, while the bottom five added ₹1,579 crore, reinforcing how a handful of titles did the bulk of the heavy-lifting.
At the very top sits Dhurandhar, the only film of the year to cross the ₹1,000 crore mark worldwide so far. What makes its run particularly striking is that the film achieved this milestone without a Gulf release and as a single-language Hindi offering, bucking the current trend of multi-language, pan-territory rollouts.
Trade sources indicate the film still has gas left in the tank, with its India nett alone tracking toward the ₹800 crore mark, suggesting Dhurandhar’s final tally could stretch even further.
Two films this year came close to the four-digit milestone but fell just short; Kantara: Chapter 1 (₹852 crore) and Vicky Kaushal-headlined Chhaava (₹808 crore) both delivered exceptional results. While Rishab Shetty-led Kantara benefited from a multi-language release strategy and a massive sequel hype, Chhaava’s performance stands out for achieving scale largely without a broad multi-language rollout (it was only in Hindi and Telugu), relying instead on sustained word-of-mouth and strong core-market traction.
The year’s biggest surprise success story, however, was Mohit Suri's Saiyaara (₹570 crore). Emerging as the highest-grossing romantic film of all time, the film’s run is considered remarkable given that it starred debutants Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, was helmed by a director not previously associated with blockbuster-scale hits, and thrived in a romantic drama genre that has struggled theatrically in the post-pandemic era.
What further underlines the unpredictability of the 2025 box office is the combined performance of Saiyaara, the animated hit Mahavatar Narsimha, and the Malayalam superhero feature Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra, which together delivered a staggering cumulative gross of ₹1,201 crore worldwide. None of the three fit the conventional “safe bet” blockbuster template, yet collectively they outperformed several marquee, star-driven projects.
On the flip side, Rajinikanth's Coolie (₹518 crore) and War 2 (₹364 crore) stand out as the year’s most prominent under-performers among tentpole releases, with a combined global gross of ₹882 crore. Coolie, hyped as a massive Rajinikanth–Lokesh Kanagaraj collaboration, was widely expected to challenge the ₹1,000-crore mark and potentially become Tamil cinema’s first entrant into that club.
While it still crossed the ₹500-crore threshold—making it one of Rajinikanth’s consecutive ₹500 crore global performers, as per trade consensus—the film fell well short of expectations relative to its scale and pre-release buzz.
If Coolie disappointed, Ayan Mukerji's War 2 shocked the trade. The sequel from the YRF Spy Universe, featuring Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR, ended up earning less than the production house's Saiyaara, a modestly mounted romantic drama. For a franchise built on spectacle and star power, the result was one of the most significant misfires of the year.
Among the year’s biggest surprises was Mahavatar Narsimha (₹327 crore), which scripted history by emerging as the highest-grossing animated film ever from India, according to trade data. Its unprecedented run caught the industry off guard, proving that animation—when rooted in strong cultural and mythological resonance—can deliver blockbuster-scale results.
Similarly, Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra (₹304 crore) rewrote the rules for Malayalam cinema, smashing previous records and clocking global blockbuster numbers rarely seen from the industry.
Rounding off the list, They Call Him OG (₹295 crore) and Housefull 5 (₹289 crore) failed to ignite the box office in a meaningful way. The disappointment around Housefull 5 was particularly sharp, given the franchise’s proven commercial pedigree and the expectation that it would comfortably rank among the year’s biggest entertainers.