The Bollywood box office 2026 story for January to March is one giant, one big hit and a long list of misses. Here are the eight films that shaped the first quarter, with the numbers behind each verdict.
The Bollywood box office 2026 first quarter belonged to Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which collected about ₹900 crore in India in its first 14 days. Border 2 delivered a hit over Republic Day and The Kerala Story 2 turned a profit on a small budget.
Most of the 23 or so Hindi films released in the quarter failed, including Dharmendra’s final film Ikkis and Shahid Kapoor’s O’Romeo. The figures below come from the Free Press Journal’s first-quarter report.
Bollywood box office 2026 at a glance
- Period: 1 January to 31 March 2026
- Hindi releases: around 23 to 24 films in cinemas
- Biggest film: Dhurandhar: The Revenge, ₹899.92 crore in 14 days
- Biggest hit before March: Border 2, ₹329.43 crore
- Most profitable small film: The Kerala Story 2, about ₹52 crore on a ₹30 crore budget
- Costliest miss: O’Romeo, ₹72.89 crore against a ₹125 to 150 crore budget
- Gulf angle: the two biggest films were kept out of some or all GCC cinemas
Collections are India figures as reported by FPJ. Trade sources mix nett and gross, so expect slightly different numbers elsewhere.
1. Dhurandhar: The Revenge: the record-breaker
Aditya Dhar’s sequel opened on 19 March, late in the quarter, and still dominated the Bollywood box office 2026 charts. Its first fortnight alone, ₹899.92 crore, was worth more than every other Hindi release in Q1 combined.
Ranveer Singh’s spy thriller went on to become the highest-grossing Hindi film ever in India. It was not released in GCC cinemas and reached Netflix UAE on 15 May.
2. Border 2: the Republic Day hit
Border 2 used the Republic Day weekend perfectly, opening on 23 January and collecting ₹329.43 crore in India. Anurag Singh directed Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty in a war film set during the 1971 conflict.
It was an expensive gamble, with a reported budget of ₹275 crore, but the film’s Wikipedia entry lists worldwide earnings of about ₹464.5 crore. Netflix bought the streaming rights for a reported ₹225 crore and began streaming it on 20 March. Until Dhurandhar: The Revenge arrived, it was the biggest Bollywood box office 2026 hit.
3. O’Romeo: the costliest miss
Vishal Bhardwaj’s gangster romance opened on 13 February, the Valentine’s Day weekend, with Shahid Kapoor, Triptii Dimri and Nana Patekar. It started well but could not sustain a near three-hour runtime and mixed reviews.
At ₹72.89 crore in India against a reported ₹125 to 150 crore budget, it was the biggest financial loss of the Bollywood box office 2026 first quarter. It has streamed on Prime Video since 10 April.
4. The Kerala Story 2: the profitable sequel
The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond opened on 27 February, the same day the Kerala High Court lifted an interim stay on its release. It earned about ₹52 crore on a budget of roughly ₹30 crore.
That made it the most profitable Bollywood box office 2026 release relative to cost in the quarter, although it fell well short of the first film’s run and drew mixed to negative reviews.
5. Mardaani 3: a disappointing return
Rani Mukerji’s third outing as police officer Shivani Shivaji Roy arrived on 30 January, moved forward from 27 February. Directed by Abhiraj Minawala for Yash Raj Films, it levelled off at about ₹51 crore against a reported ₹60 crore budget.
FPJ noted it still earned more than the first two films in the franchise. It began streaming on Netflix on 27 March.
6. Ikkis: praised but overlooked
Sriram Raghavan’s war drama opened on 1 January as the first Hindi release of the year and Dharmendra’s final film. It collected ₹31.85 crore in India against a ₹60 crore budget.
Critics loved it, but timing made it one of the unluckiest Bollywood box office 2026 releases. It opened while the first Dhurandhar was still in cinemas, and war audiences chose Border 2 three weeks later.
7. Assi: acclaimed, then ignored
Anubhav Sinha’s courtroom drama starring Taapsee Pannu opened on 20 February. It drew some of the best reviews of the quarter, with 90% of critics positive on Rotten Tomatoes according to its Wikipedia page, yet collected only ₹11.44 crore.
FPJ put its budget at ₹40 crore, while Wikipedia lists ₹30 crore. Either way, it was a commercial failure.
8. Tu Yaa Main: the Valentine’s flop
Bejoy Nambiar’s survival thriller, an official adaptation of the 2018 Thai film The Pool, starred Adarsh Gourav and Shanaya Kapoor. It opened on 13 February, the same weekend as O’Romeo, and collected ₹7.31 crore against a ₹20 crore budget.
It found a second life on Netflix from 10 April, where its campy premise of a couple trapped in a pool with a crocodile suits home viewing.
The rest of the Bollywood box office 2026 quarter
A long list of smaller films made no impression at all. FPJ described Rahu Ketu and Happy Patel as disasters, while Vadh 2, Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain, Mayasabha and Gandhi Talks failed to create any buzz.
Three lessons from the Bollywood box office 2026 so far
- Events beat everything else. Two films, Dhurandhar: The Revenge and Border 2, account for the large majority of Q1 revenue.
- Budgets need discipline. The profitable mid-size film cost about ₹30 crore, while the biggest loss came from a film that cost four to five times as much.
- Holiday dates still matter. Republic Day made Border 2. Valentine’s Day did not save O’Romeo or Tu Yaa Main.
What the Bollywood box office 2026 means for UAE audiences
The two biggest Bollywood box office 2026 hits of the quarter were missing from Gulf cinemas. Dhurandhar: The Revenge was banned across all GCC countries, and Border 2 was kept out of several of them, reportedly over its content.
That made this an unusual year for Hindi cinema in the UAE, with the films everyone in India was discussing reaching residents mostly on streaming. Catalogues vary by country, so check Netflix, Prime Video and ZEE5 in the UAE for each title.
Bollywood box office 2026 FAQs
What is the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2026?
Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which became the highest-grossing Hindi film ever in India.
Which Bollywood films were hits in early 2026?
Dhurandhar: The Revenge and Border 2 were the hits of Q1, and The Kerala Story 2 was profitable on a small budget.
How many Hindi films released between January and March 2026?
About 23 to 24, according to the Free Press Journal.
Catch up on Shahid Kapoor’s film in our O’Romeo review, read about Border 2 and Sonam Bajwa’s ₹100 crore run, and find more in our Bollywood section.