Box Office slips in March, but 2025 still up 9% over last year: Ormax Media

The slowdown follows two consecutive months of healthy performance.

Telugu cinema remained dominant, with four films in the monthly top ten, while L2E Empuraan became the first Malayalam film of the year to break into the list.

After a strong start to the year, the Indian box office saw a dip in March 2025, with overall collections staying modest despite the Eid holiday period. As per the latest report by Ormax Media, the month’s domestic gross was significantly lower than January and February, even after accounting for the projected earnings of films still in theatres.

The slowdown follows two consecutive months of healthy performance. Cumulatively, however, 2025 continues to outperform the previous year, with total collections up 9% compared to the same period in 2024. The Malayalam film L2E Empuraan led the charts in March, grossing Rs 129 crore and becoming one of the highest-grossing films in its language. Salman Khan’s Sikandar followed with Rs 122 crore. Despite its high-profile cast and scale, the film underwhelmed relative to expectations. Two other films crossed the ₹50 crore mark during the month — the Telugu comedy MAD Square and the Tamil action sequel Veera Dheera Sooran Part-2, starring Vikram.

All four of these top performers were Eid releases, underscoring the continued importance of festive windows for theatrical business. Telugu cinema remained dominant, with four films in the monthly top ten, while L2E Empuraan became the first Malayalam film of the year to break into the list. According to Ormax, language-wise box office shares are attributed to the film’s original language, even when released in multiple versions. Hollywood releases are grouped under a single category. Malayalam’s share of the overall box office currently stands at 9%, close to its 10% share during the same period last year — a number buoyed by the success of L2E Empuraan.