2025 First-Half Roundup: Dull & Disappointing

We are done with the first half of 2025, and for the Telugu film industry, it is nothing but a disastrous first six months. Not even a handful of films managed to do well at the box office, and many anticipated projects proved to be duds. Here is a roundup of the first six months of 2025 in Tollywood:

1. January:

Around 15 films were released in January, and only two managed to become successful. While Venkatesh’s Sankranthiki Vasthunnam emerged as a blockbuster at the box office, Balakrishna’s Daaku Maharaaj ended up as a decent success. Ram Charan’s high-budget pan-India film, Game Changer, turned out to be a massive disappointment for the audience and ended up as a big failure at the box office.

2. February

Even in February, many noted actors came up with their films but only Naga Chaitanya’s Thandel proved to be a winner at the box office. Thandel collected 100 crores and emerged as the biggest hit in Chaitanya’s career. Young heroes like Vishwak Sen (Laila) and Sundeep Kishan (Mazaka) arrived to theatres in February but failed to score a hit.

3. March

Court, produced by Nani, turned out to be a dark horse at the box office and became a good hit. For the budget it was made on, the Court brought good profits for its producers. MAD’s sequel, MAD Square, was also released in March and became a good success in theatres. Apart from these films, noted movies like Kiran Abbavaram’s Dilruba and Nithiin’s Robinhood were also released in the same month but failed to impress the audience.

4. April

The most disastrous month so far in 202,5 as none of the releases in this month succeeded in theatres. Many prominent releases like Siddhu Jonnalagadda’s Jack, Kalyan Ram’s Arjun S/o Vyjayanthi, Tamannaah’s Odela 2 and Priyadarshi’s Saragapani Jathakam ended up as big flops.

5. May

May opened on a decent note with Nani scoring a success with HIT: The Third Case. However, it was not a blockbuster as families didn’t come to the theatres to watch it due to excessive violence. Sree Vishnu scored a hit with his film Single. Apart from these films, other releases like Shubham and Bhairavam ended up as average.

6. June

Nagarjuna and Dhanush’s Kuberaa has been doing well in theatres and may end up as a profitable venture in the Telugu states. However, the collections in Tamil Nadu and the rest of India were disappointing. Manchu Vishnu’s Kannappa was the last release of the first half of 2025. It opened well but is struggling to maintain the momentum. So, we have to wait for a few more days to know people’s verdict on the film.

The lack of big star hero films also affected the first half of 2025 and hopefully, the second half’s releases like Hari Hara Veera Mallu, Kingdom, War 2, OG, Akhanda 2, Vishwambhara, Mirai and The Raja Saab compensate for the disastrous first six months.