India’s first full weekend of January 2026 did not reset the theatrical landscape. Instead, it reinforced an already clear hierarchy, turning the weekend into a case study of how sustained audience interest can overpower release timing, calendar advantage, and fresh arrivals. The box office conversation across the country revolved around one film, with the rest of the market playing supporting roles or slipping further into irrelevance.
Dhurandhar delivered a fifth weekend that rewrote late-run box office benchmarks in India. The film collected a staggering ₹33 crore nett across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, setting an all-time record for a fifth weekend by a distance that is unlikely to be challenged anytime soon. Until now, the highest fifth-weekend collection stood at ₹27 crore nett, achieved earlier this year by Chhaava, while Stree 2 was the only other title to cross ₹20 crore nett at this stage with ₹22 crore. Dhurandhar surpassed both figures comfortably within three days, underlining just how far ahead it now sits from historical comparables.
The daily trend made the achievement even more telling. The film opened its fifth Friday with ₹8.75 crore nett, a predictable correction after an extraordinary run, but bounced back strongly on Saturday with ₹11.75 crore and then posted a remarkable ₹12.75 crore on Sunday. This kind of late-stage growth is not driven by promotion or novelty but by sustained footfalls and repeat viewing, an indicator that the film has moved beyond being a release-event title to becoming a habitual theatrical choice. By the end of Sunday, Dhurandhar stood at a mammoth ₹776.75 crore nett in India, a figure that places it firmly among the most dominant theatrical runs in the history of the Hindi box office.
While Dhurandhar continued to consolidate its position, the only notable new entrant of the New Year frame, Ikkis, found itself operating in a market already locked in place. Releasing on January 1, the film posted an extended opening weekend total of ₹20 crore nett. The trajectory was front-loaded, with a strong ₹7 crore opening day followed by a sharp 50 percent drop on Friday. Saturday and Sunday brought modest recoveries, but not enough to generate breakout momentum. The numbers indicate a film that has found initial curiosity without triggering urgency. Ikkis remains watchable in trade terms, but its future now depends on weekday holds rather than weekend surges, especially with screen availability still heavily tilted in favour of the market leader.
The contrast became sharper with the performance of Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri, which entered its second weekend with little room to manoeuvre. The film collected just ₹1.85 crore nett across Friday to Sunday, beginning with a steep 61 percent drop on its second Friday and failing to show meaningful recovery over the weekend. With a total India nett of ₹32 crore, the film has effectively exited the competitive space. Its screens and show timings have steadily diminished, and it now survives on residual urban pockets rather than any broad-based audience pull. In a weekend dominated by endurance and consistency, its collapse only reinforced how unforgiving the market has become for films that fail to convert early interest into sustained footfalls.
Away from the Hindi belt, Malayalam cinema continued to provide a counterpoint to the weak performance of newer Hindi titles. Sarvam Maya delivered a robust second weekend, collecting ₹15.5 crore nett and taking its total to the ₹50 crore mark. The film showed minimal drop on Friday, held steady on Saturday, and then jumped sharply on Sunday, a pattern that reflects growing word-of-mouth rather than front-loaded curiosity. Its performance once again highlighted how regional films, particularly from Kerala, are increasingly filling gaps left by underperforming Hindi releases, especially in urban multiplexes where content variety matters more than star association.
Taken together, the weekend painted a clear picture of the current theatrical ecosystem in India. This was not a transitional weekend or a competitive reset following the holiday season. It was a continuation of an established order, led decisively by a film that has already proven its long-term appeal. The absence of a major disruptive release allowed Dhurandhar to extend its dominance uninterrupted, but the scale of its fifth-weekend performance suggests that even a stronger challenger may have struggled to dent its momentum.
The broader takeaway from the weekend lies in what it says about audience behaviour. Late-run collections of this magnitude indicate trust, repeat engagement, and a sense of ownership that cannot be manufactured through release timing alone. At the same time, the struggles of films like Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri underline how quickly the market moves on when that trust is not established early. Meanwhile, the steady rise of Sarvam Maya reinforces the idea that strong content, even outside the Hindi mainstream, can carve out meaningful space when audiences are willing to look beyond language.
As the calendar moves forward, the Indian box office enters January with its hierarchy firmly set. The weekend did not belong to novelty or freshness; it belonged to consistency, endurance, and audience conviction. And by every measurable standard, it was Dhurandhar that defined all three.
