Tollywood entered 2025 with high hopes of repeating its pan-India success, but the year turned out to be a major disappointment.
Almost every film aimed at the national market failed to meet expectations, badly shattering the industry’s pan-India ambitions.
The first setback came with Game Changer, starring Ram Charan. As his first release after the globally acclaimed RRR, expectations were extremely high.
The makers promoted the film aggressively in the North as well. However, the film turned out to be a colossal disaster, attracting criticism from all quarters.
Next was Daaku Maharaj, which was expected to give Balakrishna a pan-India image. Though the story and making were tailored to suit North Indian tastes, the film failed badly in the Hindi belt.
Nani’s HIT 3 was another major hope. Being a thriller, the makers believed it would connect with North Indian audiences. Unfortunately, the film did not work, and even the publicity expenses in the Hindi belt were not recovered.
Kannappa, featuring pan-India stars like Akshay Kumar and Prabhas, also disappointed. Despite being based on the story of a devotee of Lord Shiva, the film failed to click with audiences.
Similarly, OG managed to collect just Rs 3.3 crore nett in Hindi, while Akhanda 2 performed miserably, earning only around Rs 65 lakh from the Hindi market.
Overall, Tollywood’s pan-India dreams suffered a severe setback in 2025.