15 Best Indian Films of 2026 So Far

By Pickle July 18, 2026

By Saibal Chatterjee

Mammoth hits, indie gems, daring political thrillers, genteel relationship dramas – the first half of the year had it all. Many of you have likely seen some of the films that have dominated conversations among observers of Indian cinema in the past six months. Money-spinners like Dhurandhar – The Revenge and Vaazha 2: Biopic of a Billion Bros to a crowd-funded indie film that made no dent at the box-office but deservedly found instant takers when it landed on Netflix to brilliantly realised films like Balan – The Boy and Shape of Momo, the list is inevitably wide-ranging. It is a happy reflection of the diversity of Indian cinema.

Main Vaapas Aaunga
Spearheaded by an acting masterclass from Naseeruddin Shah in the role of an aged, dementia-afflicted man who has not fully forgotten his pre-Partition days of youth in Sargodha (in ahe part of Punjab that is now in Pakistan), Imtiaz Ali’s ode to love lost and fondly remembered was a sleeper hit that started slow and picked up momentum as word of mouth spread. In an age dominated by ultra-violent, hate-filled action films, Main Vaapas Aaunga is a whiff of fresh air. It is a pacifist, emotionally resonant portrayal of a tumultuous period of the history of the subcontinent and the scars that it left on the minds of those who suffered its repercussions. Hindi cinema of the year is much the richer because Main Vaapas Aaunga exists.
Still in cinemas

Balan – The Boy
Manjummel Boys director Chidambaram misses no trick in this superbly crafted, deeply affecting film about a boy in search of his missing mother. A flawless first half is followed by a less than perfect middle portion, but the director’s ability to throw in elements that help add layers of complexity to the narrative stands the film in good stead. He also extracts top-notch performances form his actors. The Malayalam film is wonderfully lensed, bolstered by imaginative sound design and helped along by effective casting. Farzana Palathingal as the mother and Adhiseshan KR and Muhammad Zinaan (as the younger and older avatars respectively of the titular character) stand out. An extended cameo by Tovino Thomas provides the icing on the cake.
Dropping on Zee5 on July 31

Nukkad Naatak
A crowd-funded, fiercely independent Hindi-language social drama focussed more on ‘social’ than on ‘drama’, Nukkad Naatak (Street Play) is a simple, uncluttered coming-of-age film that always knows where it is going. Directed by Tanmaya Shekhar, it is about two technology institute students – a girl (Molshri) growing distant from her boyfriend and a nerdy gay batchmate (Shivang Rajpal) running away from his business family’s impositions. They get into trouble with the authorities following an ill-advised but well-meaning act. Facing expulsion, they get a shot at redemption. The duo grabs the second chance with all their might, but encounter many hurdles as they seek to enrol five slum children in a school with the aim of pulling them out of poverty. The system isn’t attuned to such initiatives but failure isn’t a choice. Nukkad Naatak deserves all the love you can send its way.
Streaming on Netflix

Satluj
After a long, bruising battle with the censors, the Punjabi-Hindi film dropped on a streaming platform only to be taken down within 48 hours. But it is a film that will not be forgotten in a hurry. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala, directed by Honey Trehan and top-lined by Diljit Dosanjh, Satluj (earlier titled Punjab ’95) follows a real-life human rights activist whose crusade against police excesses in militancy-hit Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s put him in the crosshairs of the security establishment. It is a no-holds-barred drama that brings to the screen the story of a concerned citizen who demanded accountability from the powerful men who ran the state and ended up receiving the same treatment that he was fighting against.
Not streaming anymore

Shape of Momo
The Nepali-language film co-written and directed by debutante Tribeny Rai is a sparkling little gem that every film lover must seek out and savour. It premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in September 2025 before finding its way to the theatres in India in May 2026. It deserved a far wider audience than what it got, but the story of a girl from a village in Sikkim who returns home after being away for several years touched an instant chord with anybody who watched it. With poetic but unsentimental touches, Shape of Momo examines facets of womanhood in an orthodox society where change is inevitably slow to kick in. Rai uses minimalistic means but delivers a film that is high on impact.
Not streaming yet

Adamya (Unbroken)
Kolkata-based writer-director Ranjan Ghosh delivers a sledgehammer blow with this political thriller about a twenty-something man on the run from the law after a failed attempt to assassinate a minister at an election rally. Propelled by a powerfully physical performance by young actor Aryuun Ghosh (he is in every frame of the film), Adamya (Bengali) pulls no punches as the rebel makes a dash for safety and freedom even as his chances of survival and escape steadily shrink. Shot entirely in natural light with a skeletal crew in marshy Sunderbans, the film, by the standards of hyper-indie productions, achieved unprecedented success when it hit the screens in Bengal.
Not streaming yet

Dharpakad
A crime thriller that garnered admiration for its sustained suspense, surprising twists and socially relevant core, the Gujarati film is an entertaining mix of a freewheeling procedural and a family-in-distress drama. It centres on a man who sets out to find and nail the people who have scammed his father. The further he digs deeper into the digital arrest fraud that the older man was subjected to, the more intractable matters turn. Solid performances by a cast led by Malhar Thakar do full justice to the quality of the writing and the pacing of the film. The director, Anish Shah, makes the most of plot’s innate potential. Dharpakad is one of the biggest Gujarati hits of the year. And deservedly so.
Coming soon on Shemaroo Me

Ikkis
Sriram Raghavan’s Ikkis is not the sort of Bollywood war movie that goes all guns blazing and gloats over shrill battle cries. A marked departure from the director’s neo-noir thrillers, the film does not waste its firepower on empty bluster. Ikkis is Agastya Nanda’s second film and Dharmendra’s swan song. Both actors are pitch-perfect but Jaideep Ahlawat, playing a Pakistani Army officer, delivers the most noteworthy of the three pivotal performances. Perfectly crafted and solidly acted, the film celebrates the youthful courage of a 21-year-old Indian soldier who laid down his life and changed the course of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. What sets the war film apart is that it underscores the human and historical cost of military conflict. Hindi films of this era shy away from doing that.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Chinna Chinna Aasai
A heart-warming Malayalam-Tami bilingual drama, Chinna Chinna Aasai plays out over a single day in Varanasi. A visitor from Thanjavur (Madhoo, credited as Madhubala) is separated from her touring group. Nonplussed, she runs into a genial Malayali man (Indrans) visiting his daughter. After lady’s initial misgivings, they strike up a conversation that develops into a deep connection between two strangers. Debutante Varsha Vasudev crafts the genteel, easy-flowing drama with a sure handed, aided by the two veteran actors who add tremendous depth to the quiet tale of an unlikely companionship. Chinna Chinna Asai is a beautiful little film that can touch every heart.

Neelira
Crafted without fuss and frills by Sri Lankan Tamil director Someetharan, Neelira (A Long Night) probes the human cost of war. Set in 1988 in a militarised zone in northern Sri Lanka at the height of civil war, it tells a story of a single night. A family preparing for a wedding on the morrow finds their home first surrounded, and then invaded, by a handful of Indian Peacekeeping Force soldiers. The film explores the psychological effects of living through a war. Jointly produced by Karthik Subbaraj’s Stone Bench Studio and Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media, Neelira has Naveen Chandra as an IPKF captain who struggles not to let matters go out of hand as the night unfolds. Tense, gripping and disquieting.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Rakkasapuradhol
Directed by Ravi Saranga and starring Raj B. Shetty in the lead role, the gritty Kannada film is a crime drama that delves as much into the mind of an alcoholic and conflicted under-suspension policeman as into a series of grisly deaths in a small village (Rakkasapura of the title) that the cop is sent to investigate. The hamlet is in the grip of blind faith. The killings are blamed on a supernatural force. As it flits between the real and the mythical, Rakkasapuradhol dives into the personal dimensions of the mentally unstable policeman dealing with his own inner demons. Not that the film is completely devoid of moments that could have been tighter, but the lead actor invests it with simmering tension that is never allowed to dissipate. Highly watchable.
Streaming rights acquired by ZEE5

Phera
A sensitive and strikingly subtle father-son relationship drama, Pritha Chakraborty’s Phera (Return) is delivered with tender touches that set it apart from generic films. The director, an SRFTI alumna, eschews cliched tropes and skips superfluous exposition as she dives straight into the heart of the story. It reflects a distinctive directorial sensibility. Phera is buoyed by two unblemished central performances from Sanjay Mishra and Ritwick Chakraborty as the father and son dealing with the inexorable pull of home and psychological issues that have remained unresolved since the two men drifted apart. It addresses both the act of moving away from home and the urge to find one’s way back with exceptional clarity.
Not available on a streaming platform

Vaazha 2: Biopic of a Billion Bros
A follow-up to the super-successful Vaazha: Biopic of a Billion Boys is a youthful dramedy that soars and lands with equal energy. Directed by first-timer Savin SA, Vaazha 2 benefits immensely from a screenplay that is replete with insight, nostalgia and wit and from a slew of energetic performances by the entire cast of youngsters. By surpassing Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, it has become the highest grossing Malayalam film of all time. Its blockbuster status is not surprising at all, given its pointed and unfailingly humorous portrayal of the chaos of growing up and learning to navigate the curve balls of the real world that gives no quarters.
Streaming on JioHotstar

Mohiniyattam
Critically acclaimed and commercially successful, director Krishnadas Murali’s follow-up to Bharathanatyam (2024), is a dark comedy that takes forward the story of Sasidharan Nair and his family with the actors from the first film reprising their roles with even greater aplomb. Sequels rarely live up to popular expectations. Mohiniyattam is a rare one that does not fall short. With a lively rationalist spirit driving it, it rejigs its comic streak by adding a darker, sharper edge to it. Both entertaining and thought-provoking, Mohiniyattam questions rampant blind faith and prevalent religious orthodoxies with an engaging story enlivened by the performances of Saiju Kurup, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Vinay Forrt and Jagadish. Its success has led to the announcement of an extension of the franchise.
Streaming on Netflix

Dhurandhar – The Revenge
The final part of a duology that started with Dhurandhar (2025), Dhurandhar – The Revenge was the most anticipated Hindi film of the year. The mass craze that the spy action thriller generated translated into humongous box-office returns – the two films mopped up over ten times their cumulative production budget. By far the biggest-ever hit of lead actor Ranveer Singh’s career, Durandhar – The Revenge blended unbridled political fantasy, extreme violence and eye-popping visual flourish to tell the story of an undercover Indian intelligence agent who infiltrates a crime syndicate in Karachi and Pakistan’s higher power echelons. More than what it delivered as a film, Dhurandhar – The Revenge, written and directed by Aditya Dhar, was a commercial phenomenon of the kind that Hindi cinema has rarely seen in recent years.
Streaming on Netflix, JioHotstar