After a subdued start to the second quarter of FY25, multiplexes could get a shot in the arm with six releases slated for Independence Day, of which three are Hindi movies that have been eagerly awaited – Stree 2, Vedaa and Khel Khel Main, according to analysts and trade watchers.

Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkumar Rao starrer Stree 2, the sequel to the 2018 sleeper hit Stree, is expected to open with collections of ₹25 crore on Thursday, while the other two may see more modest bookings of ₹5 crore each, according to Elara Securities. The broker has forecast net box office collections of ₹150 crore for Stree 2.

The second quarter of FY25 has seen muted occupancy levels of 18-20 per cent at screens operated by PVR-INOX. There has been only one major release in this quarter, Prabhas-starrer Kalki, which actually hit the screens towards the fag end of Q1 and spilled over into the current quarter. Apart from Devara – Part 1, which will release towards the end of the current quarter, there are no major films lined up for September. All hopes are pinned on the releases on August 15.

Regional films

There are three regional films also being released on Thursday — Ravi Teja’s Mr Bachchan, Double iSmart, which has Sanjay Dutt making his Telugu debut and the Tamil action-adventure flick Thangalan. Exhibitors and the movie industry hope to see the cash registers ringing with the wide variety of offerings.

Vedaa, which has a female protagonist, and comedy movie Khel Khel Mein (with Akshay Kumar and Tapsee Pannu) are the other two star-studded films that will be released on Independence Day.

Things are expected to improve in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, when a number of Indian and Hollywood movies will be releasing. These include Sky Force, Jigra, Joker:Folie a Deux, Kanguva, Smile 2, Venom 3, Singham Again and Pushpa: Part 2.

Elara Securities pointed out that there could be a marginal sequential uptick in average ticket price and spend per head in the current quarter, though it may not be significant because the “the ad revenue environment remains muted.”

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