2025 was the year India truly changed the way it experienced entertainment. People across the country actively chose what they wanted to be a part of. They planned, they travelled, they booked, and they showed up. BookMyShow’s #BookMyShowThrowback2025 wraps up this shift beautifully. It shows an India that didn’t just consume entertainment. It lived it.
Entertainment Became A Habit For Indians In 2025
Earlier, stepping out to watch a film or attend a show felt like an occasional treat. But in 2025, it became a weekly ritual. Entertainment became part of everyday life — almost like choosing where to eat, where to shop, or where to holiday. This is why BookMyShow calls it a movement. People didn’t wait for entertainment to come to them. They went out and found it.
No matter how much we shift to OTT, India’s love for theatres refuses to fade. In fact, 2025 made that love even stronger. Movies in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Odia, Assamese, Marathi, Punjabi and Bengali all crossed borders and won over the entire country.
Nostalgia wasn’t just a feeling, it sold tickets. In fact, a massive 58 lakh people went to cinemas just to watch old favourites again. Bengaluru remained India’s late-night movie capital, with packed shows between 12 am and 6 am. Dussehra 2025 became the year’s biggest movie weekend, with 6.8 million tickets sold.
Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1 became the biggest rewatch phenomenon. More than 6 lakh people watched it twice. Yes. Twice. It’s truly a rare achievement in today’s fast-moving entertainment world. When it comes to advance bookings, Coolie became the champion here with 2.4 million tickets sold in advance.
This was the year India truly embraced concerts, festivals, and live shows. If cinema was the heart, live entertainment was the pulse. India saw a 17% jump in live entertainment, with 34,086 events in one year. That’s almost 100 events every day across the country. People even travelled for events, marking one of the biggest shifts in entertainment in 2025. Over 5.6 lakh fans travelled to another city JUST to attend a concert.
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We Went For Premium Experiences, Solo Events, And Theatre
When it came to entertainment, people wanted the best possible version of the event and chose VIP pits, special decks, and exclusive lounges. Almost twice as many fans bought premium tickets this year. Government Tourism departments in Assam, Gujarat, Telangana, and Delhi signed MoUs with BookMyShow to bring more global artists to India, upgrade infrastructure, boost local talent, and create better job opportunities
In 2025, new entertainment hotbeds also emerged. Not just metros, but cities like Visakhapatnam (409% growth!), Vadodara, Indore, Shillong, and Rajkot became active, thriving entertainment hubs. True fans of entertainment didn’t wait for the company; more than 1.8 million people attended events on their own. Even theatre shows saw a 45% rise in people attending. This means Indians actively sought out storytelling without screens.
This year made one thing very clear: that India didn’t wait for entertainment. It sought it out.
From travelling for concerts to watching Kantara twice, reliving old favourites, and exploring new cities for events.
India lived its entertainment in 2025 fully, passionately, and purposefully.
Cover Image Courtesy: Hombale Films and Canva/Tom Fisk