India’s regional box office revenue for the first half of 2026 ended at 6,398 million rupees ($664.7 million), the highest first half since the pandemic, according to a new report from Ormax Media.
This figure does not include global collections and is nearly 650 million rupees ($67.5 million) higher than the same period in 2025.
‘Dhulandar: The Revenge’ was the standout performer of the period, contributing around 20% of the total Indian box office revenue in the first half of this year. This shows that the gap between major releases and the rest of the market is widening. Six films crossed the 200 million rupee ($20.8 million) mark in the first half of 2026, up from four in the same period last year, while the number of films that reached the 100 million rupee ($10.4 million) mark fell from 17 to 13. The top 15 films collectively accounted for 58% of box office revenue, compared to 49% in the first half of 2025.
This period also saw a reversal of worrying footfall trends. Enrollment grew by 5% year-on-year, from 362 million in the first half of 2025 to 378 million in the first half of 2026, ending three consecutive years of decline and stagnation. The report attributes this recovery primarily to the performance of Hindi and Marathi releases. Despite this, admissions remain below the 400 million mark set for H1 2022, when ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ and ‘RRR’ were both released in the first half of the same year.
The share of Hindi films in the region’s overall box office revenue increased by 5 percentage points to reach 44% against 39% in H1 2025. Tamil films saw the steepest decline, dropping from 17% to 12% share within the same comparison frame. The share of Marathi films hit a post-pandemic high of 4%.
June 2026’s box office performance was strong on its own, grossing 1.038 billion rupees ($107.8 million), including future collections from films still in theatrical release. Telugu film ‘Pedi’ became the top grosser this month. Four out of six months this year have now crossed the Rs 1,000-crore mark, indicating that output across the calendar is more stable than in recent years.
Based on the historical pattern of the January-June period contributing around 42% of India’s annual box office total for the past three years, the full year of 2026 is expected to exceed 15,000 billion rupees ($1.56 billion), which beats the current annual record of 13,395 billion rupees ($1.39 billion) set in 2025. will exceed. Movies still to be released in the second half of the year include: “Ramayana: Part 1,” “The King,” “Toxic,” “Fauji,” “The Jailer 2,” “Avengers: Doomsday,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” and “The Odyssey.”
If the second half of the year goes according to plan, enrollment could total more than 1 billion in 2026, a figure that has yet to be cleared since the pandemic.
Top 15 Movies – January – June 2026
“Dhulandhar: The Revenge” – 1,277 million rupees ($132.7 million) “Border 2” – 379 million rupees ($39.4 million) “Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Ghar” – 255 million rupees ($26.5 million) “Pedi” – 232 million rupees ($24.1 million) “Karuppu” – 229 million rupees ($39.4 million) ($23.8 million) “Bhooth Bangla” – 203 million rupees ($21.1 million) “The Rajasaab” – 172 million rupees ($17.9 million) “Welcome to the Jungle” – 164 million rupees ($17 million) “Vaza 2” – 141 million rupees ($14.6 million) “Drishyam 3” – 129 million rupees ($17.9 million) ($13.4 million) “Raja Shivaji” – 113 million rupees ($11.7 million) “Cocktail 2” – 130 million rupees ($10.7 million) “Obsession” – 100 million rupees ($10.4 million) “Project Hail Mary” – 95 million rupees ($9.9 million) “Ustad Bhagat Singh” – 85 billion rupees ($8.8 million)
