India’s domestic box office grossed a record Rs. 6,398 crore in the first six months of 2026, making it the highest-grossing January-June period in the post-pandemic era, according to Ormax Media’s ‘The India Box Office Report: Jan-Jun 2026’  released yesterday.

The BO collection was 10 percent higher than the corresponding period of 2025, while cinema footfalls rose 5 percent to 37.8 crore, ending a three-year phase of decline and stagnation. (https://www.ormaxmedia.com/insights/stories/the-india-box-office-report-jan-jun-2026.html)

The report said the first-half collections surpassed the same period of 2025 by nearly Rs. 650 crore, with growth in admissions driven primarily by Hindi and Marathi films. However, despite the improvement, footfalls remained below the 40 crore mark achieved in the first half of 2022, when ‘K.G.F: Chapter 2′ and ‘RRR’ were released.

Ormax said ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ emerged as the highest-grossing film of 2026 so far, contributing nearly 20 percent of the total India box office during the January-June period.

It noted that six films crossed the Rs. 200 crore mark in the first half, compared with four during the same period last year. However, the number of Rs. 100 crore films declined from 17 to 13, indicating that box office collections were becoming increasingly concentrated among a handful of major releases.

According to the report, the top 15 films accounted for 58 percent of total box office collections in the first half of 2026, up from 49 percent a year earlier.

Hindi and Telugu films dominated the list of the top 15 releases, with five and four titles respectively.

June also delivered a steady performance, with the India box office grossing Rs. 1,038 crore, including projected future collections of June releases that were still running in theatres at the time of publication of the Ormax report.

Four of the first six months of 2026 generated more than Rs. 1,000 crore each, reflecting a steadier flow of successful releases, while Telugu film ‘Peddi’ emerged as the month’s highest-grossing title.

On language-wise performance, Hindi cinema increased its share of the domestic box office from 39 percent in the first half of 2025 to 44 percent in the corresponding period this year.

Tamil cinema’s share declined sharply from 17 percent to 12 percent, while Marathi cinema recorded its highest post-pandemic share at 4 percent, the report said.

Looking ahead, Ormax Media said the January-June period has contributed around 42 percent of annual India box office collections over the past three years.

If the trend continues, Ormax analysts observed that 2026 is on track to cross the Rs. 15,000 crore mark, surpassing the current annual record of Rs. 13,395 crore set in 2025.

It added that with major releases such as ‘Ramayana: Part 1’, ‘King’, ‘Toxic’, ‘Fauzi’, ‘Jailer 2’, ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and ‘The Odyssey’ lined up for the second half, annual footfalls could reach 100 crore. (Image courtesy Ormax Media’s ‘The India Box Office Report’)