India’s domestic box office gross reached Rs.11,000 crore in the first nine months of 2026, marking a 17 percent increase over the same period last year, according to Ormax Media’s ‘The India Box Office Report: September 2026’. With three months remaining, the industry is on course for a potential record-breaking year, supported by a strong release pipeline.

Films released in September generated a combined Rs.1,144 crore at the domestic box office, including projected future collections from titles still running in theatres. September became the seventh month in 2026 to cross the Rs.1,000 crore mark in monthly collections.

‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ emerged as the month’s highest-grossing release, earning Rs.273 crore, followed by the Telugu film ‘The Paradise’ and the Tamil film ‘Mandaadi’. The top five films together accounted for 64 percent of September’s total box office gross, highlighting the concentration of collections among the month’s leading releases.

The report also highlighted the performance of Kannada film ‘Premada Oorali’. Despite a modest opening, the film recorded significant growth from its second week onwards. At the time of publication, it had surpassed ‘Toxic’ to become the highest-grossing Kannada-language film, excluding dubbed versions. Ormax projected that the film would cross Rs.100 crore and eventually finish at around Rs.115 crore.

Hindi cinema retains its share as international films gain ground

Hindi films continued to account for around 40 percent of the Indian box office, according to the report. The shares of Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam cinema remained broadly steady compared with 2025.

International cinema, meanwhile, increased its share to 14 percent, up from 10 percent in 2025. This growth came despite the absence of major international releases in August and September, indicating the continued presence of global films in the Indian theatrical market.

The report’s year-to-date rankings also reflect the diversity of audience demand, with leading films spanning spy thrillers, superhero spectacles, mythological stories, war dramas and family entertainers.

2026 box office maintains growth momentum

The Rs.11,000 crore cumulative gross for January to September represents a 17 percent rise over the corresponding period in 2025. With several major releases expected in the final quarter, the industry could finish 2026 with its strongest-ever annual box office performance, Ormax Media said in its report.

The figures use gross box office collections as a common measure across language industries, which follow different reporting conventions, including gross, net and distributor share. Collections from films released in multiple languages are combined to calculate their all-India gross.

For films still running in theatres when the report was published, future collections were projected using the latest available trends. Ormax also assigns a film’s entire box office business to its release month, even when collections continue into subsequent months.

The September report underlines the strength of India’s theatrical market in 2026, with monthly collections repeatedly crossing the Rs. 1,000 crore threshold and the year-to-date total continuing to outpace 2025.