20 Most Anticipated Indian Films

By Pickle July 27, 2026

By Saibal Chatterjee

Predicting box-office returns is always fraught with risk, but our considered hunch is that the following 20 Indian films across regions and languages possess the potential to set off giant waves of excitement in the remaining months of 2026. Not only do they ride on enormous star power, but they also tell stories that are full of possibilities. The second half of a year is festival time for Indians who celebrate Onam, Dussehra, Diwali and Christmas in an almost uninterrupted sequence of celebrations leading all the way up to the dawn of a New Year. We expect Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, box-office “Badshah” Shahrukh Khan as King, Yash as both Ravan and a gangster in Portuguese era Goa, Prabhas as an INA soldier, Mohanlal as an SI in one film and a mafia boss in another, and the one and only Rajinikanth back as “Tiger” Muthuvel Pandian, besides all the other superstars in a range of upcoming cinematic vehicles mentioned here, to add to the fireworks of the season.

Ramayan Part 1
The first part of a planned two-part series, Ramayan is by far the most expensive Indian movie ever planned and mounted. The cumulative budget of the project is expected to top Rs 4,000 crore. Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios, Yash’s Monster Mind Creations and the American outfit Atlas Entertainment, the film is directed by Nitesh Tiwari and written by Sridhar Raghavan. Scheduled for a Diwali release, it has Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravan and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. The adaptation of the Hindu epic is expected to benefit from a no-efforts-spared approach, with DNEG handling the film’s VFX. The trailer of the film planned for July 24 was put on hold following a global distribution deal inked with Sony Pictures. Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman have scored the music. No Indian film has ever had ambitions as humongous as Ramayan. The world is watching.

King
Shahrukh Khan’s next release, co-starring his daughter Suhana Khan in her theatrical debut (after the Netflix film The Archies), is a thriller that is believed to be inspired by Luc Besson’s Leon: The Professional although the film is not officially acknowledged as a remake. Scheduled for release a day before Christmas, King is a multi-starrer. Deepika Padukone, Rani Mukherji, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Arshad Warsi and Raghav Juyal are part of the cast. The film is helmed by Siddharth Anand, director of the YRF Spy Universe films War and Pathaan. The joint production of Red Chillies Entertainment and the director’s banner Marflix Pictures. King is SRK’s first film since 2023, the year he delivered two megahits, Pathaan and Jawan, The film understandably has the superstar’s fans as well as trade watchers in a state of excitement.

Athimanoharam
Kerala filmmaker Tharun Moorthy’s fourth directorial (after last year’s smash hit Thudaram) has all the makings of another box-office success. Athimanoharam reunites the writer-director with his Thudaram lead actor Mohanlal, who teams up on screen this time around with Meera Jasmine after a gap of well over a decade. The film is described as a family-themed cop drama that is planned for release (like SRK’s King) on December 24. Scripted by Ratheesh Ravi, Athimanoharam has Mohanlal in the role of a police sub-inspector. It is the legendary actor’s 366^th film.

Batwara 1947
An adaptation of Asghar Wajahat’s memorable 1989 play play Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya O Jamya E Nai (If You Haven’t Seen Lahore You Haven’t Fully Lived), Batwara 1947 (earlier titled Lahore 1947), is a Partition-era drama directed and co-written by Rajkumar Santoshi and produced by Aamir Khan Productions. Delayed for over a year and a half, the film will hit screens across the country on August 14. The cast led by Sunny Deol includes Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta, Karan Deol and Ali Fazal. With music by AR Rahman, lyrics by Javed Akhtar and cinematography by Santosh Sivan, Batwara 1947 brings Sunny Deol and Rajkumar Santoshi together for the first time after their 1990s hits – Ghayal, Damini and Ghatak.

Haiwaan
Priyadarshan’s second theatrical release of the year with Akshay Kumar (the first was Bhooth Bangla, which hit the screens in April) reunites the Bollywood star with Saif Ali Khan for the first time since Tashan (2008). Haiwaan, an official remake of the director’s 2026 Malayalam thriller Oppam, starring Mohanlal, is about a congenitally blind martial arts exponent who fights a psychopathic killer out to eliminate a girl child. Besides Akshay and Saif, the cast includes Shriya Pilgaonkar, Saiyami Kher, Boman Irani and Sharib Hashmi along with Mohanlal in a special appearance. Haiwaan is of special significance because it is Priyadarshan’s 99^th directorial even as he works on his 100^th and avowedly final film with Mohanlal top-lining the Malayalam-language project. Haiwaan is produced by KVN Productions and Thespian Films.

Jailer 2
The much-awaited sequel to Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer (2023) will see Rajinikanth reprising the title role of retired prison chief “Tiger” Muthuvel Pandian with Mithun Chakraborty, Vidya Balan and S.J. Suryah being added to the cast in significant roles. Ramya Krishnan, Mirnaa, Shiva Rajkumar and Yogi Babu return to the film that continues from where the predecessor left off. In Jailer 2, Mithun will share screen space with Rajinikanth after a gap of 30-plus years. The two veteran actors were last cast together in a Bengali film (Bhagya Bidhata) directed by South Indian choreographer Raghuram and featuring Rajini in a special appearance, his only film in that language. The Sun Pictures production is scheduled for release in Tamil and four other languages, including Hindi, a few days ahead of Dussehra.

Arasan
Vetri Maaran expands the Vada Chennai universe in Arasan, a gangster saga releasing in the first week of November. The director’s first film with Silambarasan has generated a buzz since the release of a promo showing the lead actor in two distinct avatars – a young street-smart man with a swagger and an older, greying, world-weary gangster. Like Vetri’s Vada Chennai (2018) starring Dhanush, Arasan explores gang rivalries and underworld turf wars spread over several decades. A significant part of the Arasan cast is made up of actors who were also in the previous film – Andrea Jeremiah, Kishore Kumar G and Samuthirakani. Expectations are high.

Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-ups
Geethu Mohandas’ third film is keenly anticipated as much for its star cast – Yash, Nayanthara and Rukmini Vasanth, besides several actresses from Mumbai (Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria) as for the formidable reputation that the director has earned with her first two films – Liar’s Dice (2014) and Moothon (2019). Toxic, scheduled for worldwide release on August 26 to coincide with Onam, is a period gangster thriller set in Goa at the end of Portuguese rule. It is produced by Venkat K. Narayan’s KVN Productions and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. With a reported budget of Rs 500 crore, Toxic is one of the most expensive Indian films ever made.

Khalifa: Part 1 – The Intro
The opening salvo in a planned two-part film, this mega-budget underworld saga directed by Vysakh stars Prithviraj Sukumaran with Mohanlal playing an extended cameo. Centred on a gold smuggler and international fugitive who fights for control of and survival in a world in which mobster-rivals and law enforcers alike gun for him. Mohanlal, who top-lined Vysakh’s 2016 Pulimurugan, the first-ever Malayalam film to cross the Rs 100-crore mark, plays the founder of empire. Khalifa: Part 1 will be followed by Khalifa: Part 2 – His Reign, which is reported to be an account of the gangster’s grandfather whose story will find substantial space in the first film itself. Khalifa: Part 1, which co-stars Malvika Sharma in her Malayalam debut, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Tovino Thomas and Indrans, is scheduled for an Onam release.

Om: Chapter 1: Udhiram – The Blood Wood
Co-produced by Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films, this Tamil thriller is the 55^th film of the actor’s career. But that certainly isn’t all there is to it. From what we have gathered, the film directed by Rajkumar Periasamy (Amaran) has greater depth of thematic vision than actioners usually do. It touches on the rights of forest dwellers under constant pressure to forgo access to the land, trees and other natural resources that have belonged to them since time immemorial. Besides Dhanush, the cast of Om: Chapter 1 includes Mammootty, Sai Pallavi (who was also in Amaran), Sreeleela and Naseeruddin Shah (in his first Tamil film since Hey Ram!, released 26 years ago). The film releases on October 16. The title suggests that there might be a sequel or two in the pipeline although no official announcement has been made yet by the makers. Watch this space.

Daayra
Bankrolled by Junglee Pictures, Daayra is the third collaboration between the production banner and writer-director Meghna Gulzar after Talvar and Raazi. In a casting coup of sorts, the crime thriller has Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran as two police officers pulled into a case in which an act of diabolical proportions sets off a chain of events. The film reflects on the distortions that creep into law enforcement and the dispensation of justice when opinions get divided. Meghna Gulzar’s last film was the critically acclaimed Sam Bahadur. Daayra releases on September 18.

Mirzapur: The Movie
The successful streaming series has been turned into a big-screen spectacle under the banner of Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment, who were also the producers of the Amazon Prime Video show that has seen as many 29 episodes spread over three seasons (2018-2024). The crime drama, which is slated to be out in the multiplexes in early September, banks upon the key actors who peopled the web show characters, including Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Rasika Dugal, Divyenndu, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Shweta Tripathi. The movie is written by Puneet Krishna and directed by Gurmeet Singh.

Fauzi
In Fauzi, set for release on December 3 with multiple language versions, Prabhas plays an Azad Hind Fauj soldier in the 1940s whose exploits are derived from an unknown chapter of history. Helmed by Hanu Raghavapudi, the Telugu-language battlefield action film is the biggest production of the Sita Ramam director’s career. Its budget is rumoured to be in the vicinity of Rs 600 crore. Backed by Mythri Movie Makers and presented by T-series, the film has pan-India distribution plans. The star cast includes newcomer Imanvi Ismail (an LA-born choreographer-turned-actor), Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher and Jaya Prada. Given the budget, Fauzi will have to do extraordinarily well to erase the memory of Prabhas’s last release, the under-performing The Rajasaab.

I’m Game
At the heart of I’m Game, starring and produced by Dulquer Salmaan, is a reckless man who stakes his all on a gamble that boomerangs on him and pushes him into situations quickly spiralling out of control. The supercharged, stylish Malayalam thriller is directed by Nahas Hidhayath of RDX fame. Its worldwide release in four languages other than Malayalam (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi) is slated for August 20 targeted at the Onam festival weekend. Mysskin ius cast as the principal antagonist. The film also features Samyuktha Srinivasan, Kathir, Antony Varghese and Parth Tiwari in key roles.

Don’t Trouble the Trouble
Directed by Chennai-born Shashank Yeleti, the Telugu fantasy adventure stars Fahadh Faasil as an amiable magician who enjoys performing tricks for a little girl played Ssara Palekar. Owing to a sleight gone awry, the girl vanishes. Turns out that she is actually a genie who grants wishes. All hell breaks loose. The film is presented by S.S. Rajamouli. Fahadh Faasil’s first lead role in a Telugu film is reason enough for us to be excited. Rajamouli’s involvement is the icing on the cake. The film is due for release on September 11.

Ranabaali
Real-life couple Vijay Devrekonda and Rashmika Mandanna, who tied the knot in February this year, have a film lined up to celebrate their marital union. Set in the 19^th century, the action-oriented film has been helmed by Rahul Sankrityan (Shyam Singha Roy), who directed Deverakonda in the 2018 film Taxiwala. Ranabaali centres on a warrior who leads a tribal resistance against the colonial British rulers in the Rayalaseema region during the time of the great famine of 1876-1878 that claimed millions of lives across the subcontinent. South African-American actor Hollywood actor Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns) plays the main villain. Release in Telugu with dubs in the three other South Indian languages as well as Hindi is set for September 11.

Emperor vs. Sarat Chandra
A Bengali historical epic written and directed by the prolific Srijit Mukherji, Emperor Vs. Sarat Chandra plays out in colonized India when the popular litterateur wrote the novel Pather Dabi (Right of Way) in 1927. It sold a large number of copies within a week but was banned on the grounds of being an outright critique of the British rulers. The film dramatizes that chapter of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s life, which also saw the writer exchange a series of letters with Rabindranath Tagore, enmeshing the historical events with fictional ones described in the novel. Tota Roy Choudhury (seen in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani) plays the novelist. Originally scheduled for release in May, the film will now hit the screen in October during Durga Puja.

Seyon
Co-produced by Kamal Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International and directed by Sivakumar Murugesan, Seyon is a rural action drama about faith, conflict and coexistence. Sivakartikeyan plays a soldier-turned activist who arrives in a village during a temple festival and finds himself intervening to stop disruptions of the traditional rituals. There is excitement over the prospects of the film following the box-office success of Murugesan’s debut Thaai Kizhavi, a film produced by Sivakartikeyan and released earlier this year.

Sardar 2
A sequel to the Tamil language hit Sardar (2022), the spy action drama sees Karthi return in the dual roles of secret agent Sardar Chandra Bose and his son, Inspector Vijay Prakash. In the follow-up, which was announced immediately after the success of the precursor, is likely to focus more on the younger character. Rajisha Vijayan also reprises her role. P.S. Mithran, serving as the director again, has roped in S.J. Suryah, Malavika Mohanan and Ashika Ranganath. Sardar 2 releases on September 10.

Thudakkam
Popular interest regarding the upcoming Malayalam film Thudakkam centres primarily on lead actress Vismaya Mohanlal. This is the published author and Muay Thai trainee’s screen acting debut. Her legendary father Mohanlal puts in a special appearance as a police officer in the film. Thudakkam is directed by Jude Anthany Joseph. Plot details remain under wraps. Joseph’s last film was 2018, a critically acclaimed and commercially successful movie that revolved around the devastating Kerala floods. Thudakkam is scheduled to arrive in theatres on August 7 during the Onam festival season.