Mid-budget films make a comeback as audiences rediscover the cinema habit

MUMBAI: The middle is having a moment at the movies. Mid-budget films are showing renewed strength at the box office, challenging the recent assumption that audiences now prefer to watch such titles only on streaming platforms.

According to an Economic Times report, recent mid-budget releases including Hindi film Awarapan 2, Tamil film DC and Telugu film Chennai Love Story have each collected between Rs 59 crore and Rs 100 crore at the box office. The films were reportedly made on budgets ranging from Rs 15 crore to Rs 50 crore.

The performance is notable given the continuing pull of large-scale Hollywood spectacles and event films such as The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Their success suggests that theatrical audiences are willing to look beyond big-ticket productions when a film offers a compelling reason to leave the living room.

The mid-budget theatrical segment has faced a difficult few years. Rising ticket prices, the rapid adoption of streaming services and streamers’ growing focus on profitability have made theatrical recovery harder for films operating without the scale of major franchises.

Streaming platforms have also increasingly favoured larger productions to strengthen their brands, making the economics of smaller theatrical releases more challenging. A series of underperformers further weakened confidence in the segment.

The latest successes, however, point to a more nuanced audience behaviour. Storytelling, emotional resonance, music, nostalgia and word-of-mouth can still turn a modestly budgeted film into a theatrical draw.

The trend is also visible across regional cinema, where realistic stories and genre-led narratives have found audiences despite the dominance of larger productions.

Streaming may, in fact, be part of the reason. Rather than making viewers hostile to theatres, the abundance of content on streaming platforms appears to have made them more selective about what deserves a cinema outing.

Audiences are also increasingly looking for experiences that go beyond individual screen consumption. Social media conversations, recommendations and word-of-mouth can give smaller films the momentum needed to become shared theatrical experiences.

The recent performance of mid-budget titles therefore points to a shift rather than a simple revival. Audiences have not necessarily abandoned smaller films for streaming or big-budget spectacles. They appear to be choosing based increasingly on the strength of the story and the experience on offer.

For the mid-budget segment, that could be the most encouraging plot twist yet.