Gujarati movies: In the limelight
India’s regional cinema industry, which produces fictional movies in languages other than Hindi, is forecast to continue its strong growth, driven by increasing box office dominance, expansion on digital platforms and international appeal. While overall Indian cinema revenue is projected to grow at a CAGR of about 9 per cent during 2025-30, regional cinema is most likely to capture a larger market share, with a surge in demand for local and culturally relevant content, particularly in Tier II and III cities. This trend is fuelled by new investment from Bollywood and international co-productions, which are increasingly focused on authentic, non-Western narratives.
This has led to increased international collaborations and co-productions. Both domestic and international investment in regional cinema is rising, with major Bollywood production houses and international producers now backing regional projects. Regional cinema’s market share is expanding, as demonstrated by its 60 per cent share in 2024, compared to Hindi cinema’s 40 per cent.
According to a research report released recently by Ormax Media, a well-known consultancy firm for the Indian media & entertainment industry, Gujarati regional cinema has reached new highs in 2025, surpassing the Rs100 crore, as well as the 10 million footfalls milestone in the last 10 months. This growth story has not come from specific Gujarati blockbuster movies, but from a wide range of films across diverse genres.
In 2025, Gujarati cinema reached a landmark moment in its theatrical journey. Its Rs103 crore plus gross box office and 10 million footfalls in the last 10 months not only exceeds every previous record in Gujarati film history comfortably, but has also crossed a major milestone by overtaking both Punjabi and Marathi cinema in total box office and footfalls in 2025 (after having overtaken Bengali cinema in 2024), becoming the strongest box office language in Indian cinema outside Hindi and the four South Indian languages. As recently as two years ago, no one would have bet on this.
Slow, but steady Gujarati cinema, once seen as small, struggling and hyper-local, is now one of the fastest-growing film industries in India. This remarkable rise didn’t happen overnight. It is the result of a slow but steady decade-long journey marked by experimentation, resilience and, finally, momentum, which began to show visible results from 2024. Gujarati cinema’s success in surpassing Punjabi, Marathi and Bengali box office numbers in 2025 is neither a coincidence nor a one-film phenomenon.
The recent release of a modest drama, Laalo Krishna Sada Sahaayate, which is not a big-budget Gujarati film, continues to mesmerise the cinema goers. Going by the box office trending, this film is now heading towards being one of the biggest blockbusters of the Gujarati cinema, as far as Gujarati movies are concerned. This film has been primarily shot in and around the city of Junagadh, making it a significant local production that captures the essence of the Saurashtra region’s culture. The film’s plot involves a rickshaw driver who, while trapped in a farmhouse, confronts his past and is guided by visions of Lord Krishna.
“I come from a middle-class background and am a native of Gujarat’s Meta Khambhaliya village,” says the film’s 29-year-old director and producer, Ankit Sakhiya. “I am a qualified engineer who was always passionate about filmmaking. I decided to borrow money to produce and direct my first Gujarati film, Laalo Krishna Sada Sahaayate. About 15 friends lent me a total sum of Rs1.10 crore, which led to the making of Laalo Krishna Sada Sahaayate, which, post its release on 10 October 2025, clocked the box office collection of Rs27 crore within a month’s span. The actors of this film were not well-known faces in the Gujarati film industry when I selected them for this cult movie. Fortunately, this blockbuster film continues to mesmerise the Gujarati audience.” He goes on to add: “Although my passport bears an expired date, the film made by me is being well-received by the global Gujarati audience across cinema halls in overseas locations. Gujarati cinema is enjoying its golden era at present”.
Accolades galore Producer Vaishal Shah, maker of Gujarati film Chaniya Toli, feels that the Gujarati film industry is witnessing its jubilant phase as over 80 new movies have been released in the last 12 months, thanks to the massive response by the Gujarati-speaking audience in India and worldwide. “It is a Rs350-crore plus annual turnover movie industry, considering R4 crore as an average cost of production and marketing any well-shot Gujarati film having leading actors as the star-cast,” he says.
In the past 10 years, many Gujarati films have won national and international accolades. This list includes the film 21 Mu Tiffin, made by Vijaygiri Bava, a movie director. This family drama bagged multiple international recognitions and won a prestigious award at the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival. This much-acclaimed Gujarati film was also screened at several international film festivals, including 52nd IFFI Indian Panorama Selections, ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal Competition, 16th Tasveer South-Asian Film festival and Toronto International Women Film Festival. “Going forward, any well-shot regional film that connects urban and rural audiences with interesting stories related to Gujarati culture and Gujarati heartland will invariably fare well at the box office and also draw huge viewership on over-the-top or OTT platforms,” says Bava.
Gujarati cinema’s success in 2025 comes from a content creation mindset deeply aligned with its audience. Films that are relatable, emotionally engaging and yet tonally diverse, while staying rooted in language, values, and identity. This mix allows Gujarati cinema to reach a wide audience. Bava’s enthralling Gujarati film Kasoombo became a blockbuster cult movie, as its story explores the historical events of Gujarat’s Shetrunjay Hills. Incidentally, the Gujarati film industry and also a Gujarati film maker, Nalin Pandya (popularly known as ‘Pan Nalin’) shot to international fame, when his film Chhello Show (also known as The Last Film Show) was the Indian government’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards (Oscars).
Although Gujarati regional cinema is growing at an exponential pace, this industry still needs a huge boost from the government of Gujarat, says Hardik Sangani, a leading Gujarati actor and a prolific script writer. “I personally think that instead of merely providing subsidies to new Gujarati films, the state government should also endeavour to lower the prices of tickets of regional films screened in Gujarat’s cinema halls and multiplexes through tax reliefs,” argues Sangani. “Such tax-exemption policies followed by many state governments in India have proved to be beneficial for the regional films made in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Marathi languages. Also, the Gujarat government should facilitate and mandatorily secure the prime-time shows for newly released Gujarati films across cinema halls in the state,” he adds.
Viral Shah, screen-writer and an eminent Gujarati film director of super-hit movies like Midnights with Menka, Golkeri, Kutch Express, Gulaam Chor, etc, contends that the Gujarati audience nowadays waits for new Gujarati films to get streamed on the OTT platforms, because theatre-viewing has become expensive due to soaring ticket prices across the cinema halls. Besides, OTT platforms also pay a specific amount to a Gujarati film producer if his/her new movie is given for streaming almost two months after its release. “Going forward, Gujarati film makers will have to produce excellent, impressive and classic regional movies that emphatically characterise a ‘grand cinematic experience’ to lure the local audience in huge numbers to the cinema halls,” argues Shah.
Initiatives like providing more subsidy to new Gujarati films by the state government and the formation of an independent governmental body to guide and oversee the coordination amongst producers, directors, distributors and exhibitors are imperative for sustaining the growth of the Gujarati film industry, remarks Ronit Makhani, a well-known producer-actor of the Gujarati film industry. Concurs Abhishek Jain, founder, CineMan Productions, Ahmedabad, and a Gujarati director of box office super hit movies like Bey Yaar, Wrong Side Raju, Kevi Rite Jaish, etc: “The future of Gujarati film industry is certainly bright and positive, just that the making of the films and the choice of stories have to be true to the ethos of Gujarat and not just a clone of Bollywood or any other regional language films,” The menace of piracy also has to be dealt with stringent actions, he adds. “Government should address this pressing problem through strict laws and also create an ecosystem to curb piracy at the earliest,” Jain insists.
Krishnadev Yagnik, a Gujarati film director and co-founder of film production companies, such as Big Box Series and Belvedere Films, lists the dearth of good scripts and the budgetary support from financiers and producers as major challenges faced by the Gujarati film industry. The director of movies like Chhello Divas, Karsandas Pay & Use, Shu Thayu, etc, Yagnik is convinced that “in-depth stories that feature compelling narratives will certainly resonate well with the audience.”
However, according to Sanjay Shah, a renowned entertainment journalist and a film critic, the Gujarati film industry also faces a peculiar dilemma, while attracting both urban and rural audiences together and en masse to the cinema halls. “Labelling Gujarati films made in contemporary times as urban films is not an encouraging trend. To be honest, urban Gujarati youth are nominally interested in Gujarati cinema. And, rural Gujarati audiences cannot fully relate to those films that primarily cater to the taste of the urban Gujarati population. Also, the rural population of Gujarat does not have easy access to a large number of good-quality cinema screens in small towns and villages across the state,” he says. Single-screen theatres in Gujarat are fewer than 300, he informs. And, most of them are in a bad condition. In such a scenario, producers and distributors of Gujarati films have no option but to swim against the tide to release their new movies.
Ormax Media’s report on Gujarati cinema states that strong entertainment content of Gujarati films has been consistently supported by the social ecosystem powered by ‘mandals’ in Gujarat in recent years. ‘Mandals’ are community groups that have long been part of Gujarati social life, actively organising festivals and neighbourhood events. In recent years, ‘mandals’ have become more organised because of digital communication methods, especially WhatsApp and UPI payments. As a result, they have also started shaping Gujarati cinema’s theatrical success by booking shows in bulk, thus turning movies into a shared community activity. In an era where conventional marketing alone cannot ensure footfalls, ‘mandals’ provide something more enduring: a grassroots theatrical engine powered by trust, habit, and cultural connection -- a model uniquely Gujarati.
The Gujarati film industry has moved beyond dependence on a few big hits. Two years ago, the film 3 Ekka contributed 60 per cent of the 2023 Gujarati box office. Today, the success is more balanced, driven by multiple mid-sized films earning Rs5-10 crore each. But Gujarati cinema’s revival runs deeper than its top earners. A new layer of smaller films, earning around Rs3-5 crore each, has brought consistency to the Gujarati box office. These titles may not dominate trade charts, but they are bold, emotionally rich and culturally significant. Gujarati cinema isn’t chasing pan-India recognition or OTT dominance. It is quietly building its own theatrical ecosystem – local, loyal, and also self-sustaining. A Rs100 crore milestone has been reached this year by the Gujarati film industry till date – one rooted story, one community outing, one emotionally honest film, at a time.