Indian cinema is experiencing a surge in interconnected cinematic universes spanning multiple languages and genres. These franchises feature major stars and have produced several box-office successes, though some recent Hindi entries have underperformed. More releases are planned to build on this momentum.
Indian cinema's landscape is evolving with dedicated cinematic universes in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam industries. These shared worlds connect films through characters, plots, or themes, ranging from spy thrillers and supernatural stories to cop dramas and animated epics.
In Hindi, the YRF Spy Universe stands out with its latest release War 2 and upcoming Alpha, boasting Pathaan as its biggest hit. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, and Hrithik Roshan, directed primarily by Kabir Khan, Siddharth Anand, and Ali Abbas Zafar. Maddock Films’ Supernatural Universe recently launched Stree 2, its top performer, with Thamma next; it features Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, and Ayushmann Khurrana under directors Amar Kaushik and Aditya Sarpotdar. The Rohit Shetty Cop Universe's Singham Again marks its latest and biggest success so far, starring Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Deepika Padukone, with future projects to be announced.
Tamil's Lokesh Cinematic Universe hit big with Leo, followed tentatively by Benz, starring Kamal Haasan, Vijay, Karthi, and Fahadh Faasil, led by Lokesh Kanagaraj and Bakkiyaraj Kannan.
In Telugu, Prasanth Varma's universe debuted with Hanu Man and eyes Adhira, starring Teja Sajja and Dasari Kalyan. The HIT series, focusing on the Homicide Intervention Team, released its third case as the current hit, with a fourth upcoming, involving Vishwak Sen, Adivi Sesh, Nani, Karthi, and Rajkummar Rao under Sailesh Kolanu.
Kannada's Mahavatar Cinematic Universe is an animated series, starting with Mahavatar Narsimha and planning Mahavatar Parasurama, directed by Ashwin Kumar.
Malayalam offers the Wayfarer universe with Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra as its lead, next Michael tentatively, starring Kalyani Priyadarshan, Dulquer Salmaan, and Tovino Thomas via Dominic Arun. The Weekend Blockbusters universe's Minnal Murali is the standout, with Detective Ujjwalan latest and Jambi ahead, featuring Tovino Thomas, Dhyan Sreenivasan, and Guru Somasundaram across directors Basil Joseph, Indraneel GK, and Rahul G.
While many entries have driven strong earnings, Hindi universes have seen mixed results lately, yet anticipation builds for expansions.
