We had been hearing that same rhyme repeating since 2020. The audiences are not interested in going to the theatres anymore, they said when 83 flopped. Only mass action will work now, they argued, as KGF and RRR stacked record numbers. Romantic films are dead; they repeated every time a candyfloss romance featuring Gen Z stars (too many titles to name) tanked at the box office. Even Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was seen as an aberration, elevated by its two leads, rather than a return of romance in theatres. It took three diverse films in 2025 to bust these narratives and announce to the world: old-school Bollywood romance is alive. And it needs neither star power nor social media virality to succeed.
The Saiyaara storm rewrites record books
When Saiyaara was approaching release in July, few in the industry gave the Mohit Suri film any chance. Predictions for its box office performance were lukewarm, and the old guard refused to believe the on-ground buzz and craze for its music. Even as the songs began to top the charts, many argued that it would not translate to box office success. After all, if non-action did not work with an Aamir Khan (Laal Singh Chaddha), what hope did newcomers like Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda have?
Then came 18 July, and the naysayers were silenced. As trade expert Komal Nahta put it at the time, “All predictions till one week back about the expected ₹1.50 or 2 crore opening for ‘Saiyaara’ only serve to underline one thing: predictive analysis and film trade biz are not everyone’s cup of tea. So once again, it’s time to write the obituary of self-styled film trade analysts and box-office prediction agencies. Where they went wrong was in assessing the power of YRF’s promotion strategy of not revealing the lead pair in a single interview so far. They also underestimated the power of hit music and kickass teasers and trailers. Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda’s is the best launch of two newcomers in the last decade.”
Saiyaara ended its run as the highest-grossing love story in the history of Indian cinema. Yes, it outgrossed Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and sold more tickets than even Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and Kabir Singh. To achieve this with a fresh lead pair for a genre whose obituaries had been written was nothing short of miraculous.
Intense romance thrives in 2025
But many still felt that Saiyaara’s success was a flash in the pan. Trade pundits intellectualised and analysed the film to death, never conceding that a well-told story was bound to work if it connected with the audience, regardless of the genre.
To hammer that point home, we needed Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat. There was no reason for that film to work. Harshvardhan Rane had not had a stellar track record. Sonam Bajwa, a star in Punjabi cinema, was yet to find her feet in Bollywood. And Milap Zaveri’s last clean hit was a while ago. Yet, the three combined to give the year’s biggest sleeper hit. Buoyed by word of mouth and social media FOMO, Deewaniyat grossed ₹110 crore worldwide, a huge achievement for the film.
Analysing the film’s success in its second week, senior trade analyst Komal Nahta wrote, “Director Milap Zaveri and lead actor Harshvardhan Rane – both coming off a streak of underperformers – have stunned the industry and silenced sceptics with Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat. The film’s performance continues to be driven by Tier-2 and Tier-3 centres.”
Deewaniyat’s success was a throwback to love stories working at the box office due to interest from the young audience, largely from non-metro cities. This trend was further evident in Tere Ishq Mein, Aanand L. Rai’s return to the toxic love genre, starring Dhanush and Kriti Sanon. Again, even as naysayers said that a Raanjhana redux was impossible post-pandemic, Tere Ishk Mein earned ₹162 crore at the box office, despite almost negligible contribution from the Tamil version.
The power of word of mouth
The success of these films was driven by a factor that the Bollywood trade had ignored since the pandemic – word of mouth. In an era of manufactured craze and social media buzz, on-ground word-of-mouth elevating films was seen as a phenomenon of a bygone era. But it thrived in 2025. And Dhurandhar, while from a different genre, solidified the importance of word of mouth as the year closed out. Devang Sampat, Managing Director, Cinépolis India, says, “Hindi cinema saw mixed outcomes, but word-of-mouth-driven successes stood out.” Sampat says that success across genres and languages has enabled Indian cinema to somehow register its biggest year so far. And the return of romance has been at the heart of it.