2024 was an underwhelming year for Indian cinema as the gross box office earnings were less than that of 2023. But as per the Ormax Box Office Report: 2025, the figure jumped from Rs. 11,833 crores in 2024 to Rs. 13,395 crores. This makes 2025 the highest-grossing year ever for the Indian box office.
In this special feature, we shall look at the top 10 Indian films of 2024 across languages at the India box office. The film right at the top is undoubtedly Dhurandhar. It is the only film of last year to gross more than Rs. 1000 crores domestically. What's astonishing is that usually, films achieve such numbers when released in multiple languages. But Dhurandhar had a release only in the Hindi version and yet created history.
Kantara: A Legend Chapter – 1 took the second position, as it collected Rs. 724 crores. The goodwill of the first part and the excellent word of mouth for the prequel played a major part.
Chhaava came next, thanks to its humongous collections, amounting to Rs. 708.50 crores. Saiyaara, which came fourth, was a surprise sleeper blockbuster as it earned Rs. 409.18 crores. Despite being made on a modest budget, it beat some of the biggest films of the year in various languages.
A lot was expected from Rajinikanth's Coolie. But it ended up earning Rs. 325 crores. The collections are decent, but with a better word of mouth, it could have beaten some of the aforementioned films, especially Saiyaara.
Mahavatar Narsimha, which was released a week after Saiyaara, also sprang a surprise. It collected a huge Rs. 301 crores, shocking trade and industry alike.
Avatar: Fire And Ash's earlier part, Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022), is the highest Hollywood grosser in India. However, the third installment failed to meet the expectations. Nevertheless, the word of mouth was still positive as the film had the ultimate big-screen charm. As a result, it managed to gross Rs. 243 crores in India.
The ninth and tenth positions were taken by They Call Him OG and Sankranthiki Vasthunam, which earned Rs. 224 crores and Rs. 222 crores gross, respectively. War 2 was a debacle and settled in the eleventh position as it earned Rs. 220.39 crores.
Ajay Devgn, who had two films in the list last year, managed to score in 2025 with Raid 2. The film earned Rs. 214.55 crores, which proved that even the third part of Raid can work and open well, if it gets made in the future.
After two debacles, Aamir Khan jumped back into the big league with Sitaare Zameen Par. Despite somewhat niche appeal, it went on to collect Rs. 197.23 crores due to word of mouth and credibility of brand Aamir.
Housefull 5 was quite panned, but the comic caper did attract an audience in hordes. It is proved with its collections amounting to Rs. 191.33 crores.
The much-loved Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra represents Malayalam cinema in the list. The film earned Rs. 186 crores, which is Rs. 16 crores more than 2024's highest Malayalam grosser, Manjummel Boys. Lastly, by collecting Rs. 182 crores, Ajith Kumar's Good Bad Ugly came 15th.
Win for Hindi cinema
In short, 7 films in the list are from Hindi cinema. As per the Ormax data, 2025 was the best year for Bollywood as total collections of all Hindi films were Rs. 5504 crores, which is an 18% increase from 2024. Yet, 2023 still remains special for Bollywood, at least in the post-pandemic era; this is because 8 films belonged to Hindi in the top 15 last. Jawan was the highest grosser then and the other films in the list were Animal, Pathaan, Gadar 2, Adipurush, Tiger 3, The Kerala Story, Dunki and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
2026 also seems promising for Bollywood as several biggies are lined up for release. The first biggie of the year, Border 2, is already on its way to becoming a blockbuster. Dhurandhar The Revenge, Ramayana, King, Love & War, Raja Shivaji, Bhooth Bangla, Drishyam 3, etc. are also expected to rake in huge numbers at the box office and hopefully feature in the top 15 list next year.
The top 10 Indian films of 2025 are as follows (collections in gross)
1. Dhurandhar – Rs. 1046.1 crores (as of January 22, 2026)
2. Kantara: A Legend Chapter – 1 – Rs. 724 crores
3. Chhaava – Rs. 708.50 crores
4. Saiyaara – Rs. 409.18 crores
5. Coolie – Rs. 325 crores
6. Mahavatar Narsimha – Rs. 301 crores
7. Avatar: Fire And Ash – Rs. 243 crores
8. They Call Him OG – Rs. 224 crores
9. Sankranthiki Vasthunam – Rs. 222 crores
10. War 2 – Rs. 220.39 crores
11. Raid 2 – Rs. 214.55 crores
12. Sitaare Zameen Par – Rs. 197.23 crores
13. Housefull 5 – Rs. 191.33 crores
14. Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra – Rs. 186 crores
15. Good Bad Ugly – Rs. 182 crores
