With Varun Dhawan’s mass masala experiment Baby John biting the dust, Hindi cinema is entering 2025 with a sour taste in the mouth. 2024 has been a dismal year for the Bollywood box office, with star vehicles like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Sarfira, Maidaan and Chandu Champion failing to rev up the screens. The realm of content-driven films felt more optimistic, with Laapataa Ladies, Amar Singh Chamkila and Kill pushing the boundaries for the mainstream.
The New Year will have the Hindi film machinery churn out some more sequels but the trade analysts can breathe easy because a Salman Khan film is readying for impact. Here’s a look at what to look out for in 2025:
SANTOSH
After making waves at the Cannes Film Festival last year and being the UK’s official entry for the Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category, the Shahana Goswami starrer comes to Indian theatres on January 10. The Sandhya Suri directorial tells the story of a young widow who takes up her late husband’s job as a police officer and has to investigate a case of a Dalit girl’s rape and murder. The film is touted to be a nuanced look into systemic sexism, casteism and Islamophobia.
EMERGENCY
After a long tussle with the censors, Kangana Ranaut’s Indira Gandhi biopic will finally see the light of day on January 17. Directed by Kangana with a screenplay by Ritesh Shah, the film will be the first major release of 2025.
DEVA
Shahid Kapoor goes bad and buzz-cut for Rosshan Andrrews upcoming action-drama. Most on-set pictures show Shahid dressed in a white shirt, possibly hiding a grey personality. The actor plays a no-nonsense cop in the film who might not be in the habit of sparing the rod.
CHHAVVA
Vicky Kaushal embodies the Maratha rage as he sports a flowy beard in the role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in Laxman Utekar’s next. The film also boasts stunt casting, with Akshaye Khanna playing the scheming Mughal king Aurangzeb. It is yet to see if the film will raise the money graph or only decibel levels.
SIKANDAR
Salman Khan seems to be in good hands with Ghajini director A.R. Murugadoss behind the monitor. A recently released first look gives the mass play to Salman’s recent off-screen predicament. “I heard a lot of people are behind me,” he says. “Just wait for me to turn.” Bring it on Bhai!
JOLLY LLB 3
Will the real Jolly please stand up? For the third part, Arshad Warsi, who played the small-time, jugaadu lawyer in the first segment of the David Vs Goliath legal comedy, takes on Akshay Kumar, who had replaced him in the sequel. It would be fun to see these two actors with impeccable comic timings trying to one-up each other.
WAR 2
Hrithik Roshan will take on Jr. NTR in this sequel to the 2019 actioner. In the director’s chair, Ayan Mukerji is replacing Siddharth Anand. Expect a lot of fistfights and dance-offs. Naatu Naatu.
THAMA
Ayushmann Khurrana is putting on fangs for another segment of Maddock’s horror comedy universe. This vampire comedy will also star Rashmika Mandanna. Nawazuddin Siddiqui possibly plays a villain. But will it be bloody good or a stake in the heart? Only time will tell.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s UNTITLED NEXT
The director reunites with his Haider and Kaminey muse Shahid Kapoor for a biopic of Mumbai gangster Hussain Ustara. The film also stars Triptii Dimri. It would be interesting to see the combination of Vishal and Shahid deliver a theatrical again.
ALPHA
After the uneven Jigra, Alia Bhatt is set to team up with Sharvari Wagh for YRF Spy Universe’s first female-led actioner. Sharvari’s Instagram posts showing her fist-up-facing punching bags have built our excitement. Who runs the world?