Sanjeev Kumar Bijli’s core claim is straightforward and quietly wild: India’s box office has not just recovered, it has outstripped pre-pandemic revenues, even as streaming has grown. And in 2025, theatrical box office reached a record-breaking $1.48BN. That is the anchor number in this discussion, because it challenges the easy storyline many markets have been telling themselves since the pandemic: that theaters were permanently displaced by streaming.

Bijli frames India as one of the few Asian theatrical markets that has actually surpassed its earlier peak. The reason matters for executives: the theatrical rebound is happening in a place with all the usual headwinds that have weighed on international box office elsewhere, including the growth of streaming and what he describes as a slowdown in the Hollywood pipeline. Yet despite those cross-currents, 2025 still produced $1.48BN, and the market’s path through recovery looks less like a rebound from damage and more like a real expansion of demand.

To understand why this is important, you have to zoom out to how box office economics work in practice. The industry is essentially balancing three variables: consumer willingness to leave home, the supply of titles strong enough to pull them in, and exhibitors' ability to translate that demand into seats, screens, and showtimes that maximize utilization. Streaming can win on convenience, but theaters still have structural advantages when the content and the audience moment line up, especially for mass-market releases. In many territories, executives have struggled with the supply side, because even if consumers want the theatrical experience, they need frequent enough “must-see” movies to keep theaters relevant. Bijli’s point about a Hollywood pipeline slowdown underlines that this is not just a content-agnostic “people still like movies” story; it is a supply and scheduling story.

India’s outperformance, then, becomes a strategic signal for capital allocation. If 2025 box office can hit $1.48BN while other global territories wrestle with streaming spillover and thinner pipelines, exhibitors may be rethinking the risk profile of physical screens. That is especially relevant for companies that are both operators and landlords of experiences, because screen expansion is not a casual capex decision. Build too slowly and you can miss demand; build too aggressively and you can end up with underutilization. When Bijli points to the resilience of India’s theatrical market despite those pressures, it effectively argues that the demand elasticity and scheduling density in India may be stronger than in many comparable markets.

There is also a second-order boardroom angle here: in a period where streaming has captured mindshare and budgets, the exhibitor that leans into expansion during a recovery year is making a bet that the long-term economics of theaters are improving, not just stabilizing. Expansion is also a competitive move. If more screens come online, it can shift how films distribute, how quickly exhibitors can fill schedules, and how audiences develop viewing habits. Bijli’s emphasis on cinema expansion suggests the company’s thesis is not “wait for recovery,” it is “lock in scale while the market is proving it works.”

Finally, the Cannes acquisitions haul element matters because it speaks to how exhibitors increasingly think about content and timing, not just real estate and admissions. While the source snippet does not provide deal specifics, it explicitly ties Bijli’s discussion to acquisitions stemming from Cannes. For decision-makers, that is a clue about how companies may be seeking more reliable title flow, potentially diversifying beyond the traditional upstream pipeline. In other words, if the Hollywood pipeline slows, exhibitors still need compelling slates. Acquiring or aligning with content around major industry events can be one way to reduce uncertainty and improve programming control.

Put together, the message executives should take from this is that India’s theater story is not stuck in post-pandemic nostalgia. It is currently measurable in 2025's record-breaking $1.48BN box office, occurring even while streaming rises and even while the broader Hollywood slate faces a slowdown. If you are running a public exhibitor, a private operator, or even an adjacent platform considering partnerships, Bijli’s framing points to a strategic opening: theaters can grow in markets where demand, programming, and screen supply align. The stakes are simple. Underinvest and you may miss the upside as the market proves it can beat pre-pandemic levels. Overinvest blindly and you risk utilization. Bijli’s testimony tries to thread that needle by anchoring the thesis in the market outcome, not in vibes.