April 2026 turned out to be a steady month for the Indian box office, with domestic gross collections touching Rs.787 crore, according to the latest edition of The India Box Office Report: April 2026 released by Ormax Media. The month was led by the strong theatrical performances of Hindi horror-comedy ‘Bhooth Bangla’ and Malayalam sequel ‘Vaazha 2’, which together contributed nearly 43 per cent of the total collections recorded during the month.

The Ormax report noted that the cumulative India box office collections for films released between January and April 2026 now stand at Rs.4,219 crore, marking a 15 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2025. The report attributes the rise to a combination of strong performances from Hindi cinema, growing momentum in Malayalam films, and improved traction for Hollywood titles in India.

Among the April releases, ‘Bhooth Bangla’ emerged as the highest-grossing film of the month, followed closely by ‘Vaazha 2’. International release Michael, based on the life of pop icon Michael Jackson, and Tamil film ‘Love Insurance Kompany’ were the only other titles to cross the Rs.50 crore mark at the domestic box office during the month.

The report also highlighted the dominance of Hindi cinema in the overall 2026 box office chart so far. Hindi films occupy four spots in the list of the top-performing releases of the year and continue to command the largest share of theatrical revenues. Telugu cinema followed closely, while Malayalam cinema registered one of the sharpest jumps in market share this year.

According to the data shared by Ormax Media, Malayalam cinema’s contribution to the overall box office doubled from 4 per cent during January-March to 8 per cent by the end of April. The surge was largely driven by the success of ‘Vaazha 2’ and growing audience interest in regional storytelling. The report also observed that Hollywood films gained momentum in India after the performances of ‘Project Hail Mary’ in March and ‘Michael’ in April.

Language-wise, Hindi cinema maintained a commanding 50 per cent share of the Indian box office in 2026 so far. Telugu and Tamil films continued to remain strong contributors, while international films also improved their standing in the theatrical market.

The Ormax report clarified that all figures mentioned are based on gross domestic box office collections and include projected future earnings for films still running in theatres. For multilingual releases, collections across all languages have been combined to arrive at an all-India gross figure.

With the summer release calendar expected to intensify in the coming months, the Indian theatrical market now appears to be on a stronger growth trajectory compared to last year, backed by a mix of mainstream Hindi titles, regional successes and international releases finding audiences across the country.