The latest Hindi film, Border 2, opens with very good numbers, 30 Cr nett, and unanimous positive reviews from audiences and critics. The film is expected to be a big money spinner, and the trade is happy that Bollywood has started 2026 with a bang.
With the help of positive talk, the film witnessed good growth on day 2. Today the collections are witnessing 20-25% growth, and the film is set to register 35 Cr+ Day. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow (Republic Day) are expected to deliver much bigger numbers for the film.
After registering superb opening numbers, Border 2 is expected to end the 4-day extended weekend around 150 Cr net in India, which is a very big start for the film. Trade is expecting a minimum of 400 Cr net in India in a full run, and it might go much bigger if the momentum continues.
The fans of Vijay, the Tamil star, eagerly await the judgment of the court regarding the film, Jana Nayagan’s release, and the latest update is that the date for the final verdict is locked. Now, all eyes are on the final date, and they expect no more delays in the verdict.
The Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan will be delivering their judgement regarding Jana Nayagan on January 27, 2026 (TUESDAY), on a writ appeal filed by the Central Board of Film Certification against Justice PT Asha’s order to grant a U/A 16+ certificate to the movie.
How did the Censor Row start for Jana Nayagan?
Directed by H. Vinoth, Jana Nayagan is Vijay’s last film before he fully enters politics and was initially set to release on January 9 as a special for Pongal. Just days before its scheduled release, the CBFC notified the producers that the chairman had chosen to send the film to a revising committee.
In response, the producers approached the Madras High Court. On January 9, Justice PT Asha ordered the CBFC to promptly issue a U/A 16+ certificate for the film. However, this relief was temporary, as Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan, representing the CBFC, urgently brought the matter before the Chief Justice.
Fans and the makers await the Supreme Court’s judgment/verdict on Jana Nayagan’s release
The division bench then put a hold on the single judge’s ruling and arranged for further hearings after the Pongal holidays.
The filmmakers later went to the Supreme Court, contesting the stay from the High Court division bench. The Supreme Court chose not to consider the request and instructed the Madras High Court to resolve the matter quickly, also raising concerns about the speed of the case proceedings.
After listening to detailed arguments on January 20, the Madras High Court reserved its decision on Tuesday.
Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film, King, directed by Siddharth Anand, has announced its release date, much to the delight of fans. The actor took to his official social media account and announced that it is getting released on 24th December, 2026, on the occasion of Christmas.
Shah Rukh Khan’s King to face big films at the box office
The film has to face a big risk at the box office, as the Hollywood biggies, Avengers: Doomsday and Dune 3, are releasing on 18th December. Shahrukh has a very big market overseas, and his films do huge numbers in multiplexes. So, facing the Hollywood releases definitely will show a big impact in the number of shows for the film.
While the trade is having different thoughts about the release date of King, the teaser’s somber mood and SRK’s tough makeover have already stirred excitement among fans, and they label it as one of his massiest appearances yet.
King Movie Cast:
King also features Suhana Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Arshad Warsi, and Anil Kapoor in key roles. Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix Pictures, this film is Suhana Khan’s first appearance in theaters following her digital debut in The Archies (2023).
The sensational blockbuster Dhurandhar has recorded one of the biggest box office runs ever. The film has been collecting strong numbers consistently and has continued to set new milestones from its second week onward. It has now emerged as the highest-grossing film of all time in the Hindi belt.
For the first time, the film’s daily collections dropped below ₹1 crore nett in India on its 50th day. Meanwhile, Border 2 released in theaters yesterday and opened to highly positive reviews. The film is already showing strong growth in ticket bookings for today and is expected to dominate the box office.
With this, the upcoming weekend is likely to be the final major weekend for Dhurandhar’s run in theaters. From next week, the film will also begin streaming on Netflix, a release that OTT audiences are eagerly waiting for.
Balakrishna’s next film, NBK 111, was announced even before the release of Akhanda 2 and it faced some rumors in recent days about the script change and some reports suggested it might have been cancelled as well. But the team denies all rumors and confirms that it is the next film of Balakrishna.
It was planned as a big-budget historical epic with Nayanthara in the lead role. But due to the slowdown in the OTT market and the failure of Akhanda 2, this historical project was forced to be shelved.
NBK111 is indeed Balakrishna’s next film, with no other projects scheduled in between.
After that, Gopichand Malineni and the team decided to go ahead with a high-voltage mass film. But since the project is taking time to complete pre-production work and Balakrishna is currently free, industry buzz started that he might accommodate another film in between.
But Balakrishna’s team and the movie team have denied these rumours and confirmed that NBK 111 will be only with Gopichand Malineni, and the script is locked as per them. The only thing yet to be decided is when the film will go on floors.
Balakrishna usually does not like taking long breaks and prefers to continue shooting without gaps. To put an end to all these rumours, Gopichand Malineni needs to take NBK 111 onto the sets soon.
Swayambhu, starring Nikhil Siddhartha, was announced for a 13th February release and has been facing postponement rumors for the past few days. The latest reports suggest that indeed those rumors are true.
Now it is official, as the team has locked 10th April as the new release date for Swayambhu and informed all parties. The VFX work is said to be taking extra time.
The movie is the biggest film of Nikhil, targeting the pan-India market. Nikhil earlier scored a pan-India success with Karthikeya 2. With Swayambhu, he is expecting a much bigger success and a game-changing film.
Bharat Krishnamachari directed the film, produced by Bhuvan and Sreekar at Pixel Studios, with Tagore Madhu presenting. Swayambhu presents an unknown era of Indian history, featuring a courageous warrior who challenges his culture. This grand spectacle seamlessly blends thrilling action, profound emotions, and cultural authenticity for a captivating experience for all.
For a few months, there has been a buzz about Pawan Kalyan and Harish Shankar’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh locking the March-end release date, but it was uncertain due to Ram Charan’s Peddi announcement of the release date in the same period.
Actually, Nani’s The Paradise was announced for a 26th March release, while Ram Charan’s Peddi was announced for a 27th March release. Both films’ shoots are still in progress, and there is a strong buzz that both have been postponed.
So, it is almost certain that Pawan Kalyan’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh release date is 26th March, and an official update will arrive very soon. This is a very good release date for the film, as it marks the start of the summer season, with several holidays in the first and second weekends.
Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu started its second weekend on a good note, as the film is seeing a good jump in bookings today. Till Friday, for the theatrical run of 12 days, the film’s worldwide gross is close to ₹260 Cr.
Now, the movie is all set to cross Sankranthiki Vasthunam (₹265 Cr) and Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (₹268 Cr) by tomorrow to become the biggest Sankranthi grosser in Telugu.
Across all versions, Hanuman is currently the biggest Sankranthi grosser with ₹295 Cr worldwide. To beat that record, the film needs a much bigger jump in collections from today to Monday.
So far, no Sankranthi release or regional film has collected ₹300 Cr gross worldwide. Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu could become the first one if it achieves this milestone if it gets the required big jump for the second weekend.
With heavy expectations, The Raja Saab was released on 9th January, and the film opened well with ₹100 Cr worldwide, but the closing collections are not at the expected range. Due to bad reviews and negative word of mouth, the movie dropped badly after the first weekend.
Now the film is almost at the end of its box office run. The worldwide closing collections of The Raja Saab will be around ₹200 Cr only for all languages. The Telugu version collected close to ₹170 Cr, while other language versions are completely disastrous.
The worldwide breakeven target was ₹400 Cr+, so the film faced more than 50% losses worldwide. Overall, The Raja Saab is a huge box office failure, giving Radhe Shyam–kind of results for Prabhas.
Starring Sobitha Dhulipala in the lead, “Cheekatilo” is a crime thriller also featuring Vishwadev Rachakonda, Chaitanya Krishna, and others, directed by Sharan Koppishetty. The film was released directly on Prime Video. Let us check how this crime thriller has been shaped up in the following review.
Story:
Shocked by the murder of her close friend, Sandhya Nelluri (played by Sobhita Dhulipala), a crime reporter who has recently quit her job, decides to start a podcast to investigate the case. Her search for the truth soon pulls her into a much darker and dangerous journey, as the murder is linked to several similar crimes from previous years.
Performances:
Sobhita Dhulipala delivers a strong and convincing performance as Sandhya. Viswadev Rachakonda appears natural in his role, while Aamani and Jhansi leave a good impression. Chaitanya Krishna and Esha Chawla are decent, though their characters could have been more impactful with better writing. Vadlamani Srinivas, Ravindra Vijay, Suresh, and others play their parts adequately.
Analysis:
Cheekatilo (In the Darkness), a Telugu Prime Video original directed by Sharan Kopishetty, has all the right ingredients for an engaging crime thriller. Along with the murder mystery, the film also presents a social message about the abuse and violations women face in their everyday lives.
The film effectively explores the emotional trauma women carry for a lifetime, and some scenes dealing with this theme are meaningful and emotionally powerful. But the movie struggles in handling the crime and investigation aspects.
While the initial phone call from the killer creates intrigue, the investigation that follows feels routine and lacks intensity. There is little suspense around potential victims, and the threat posed to the lead character is not explored strongly.
The climax offers a solid backstory for the villain, but the reason given for restarting the killing spree is confusing. The way the final punishment is handled also feels underwhelming.
Positives:
Story
Sobitha Dhulipala’s Performance
Emotional Dialogues/Moments
Negatives:
Investigation Scenes Miss the Mark
Lack of the Thrill or Excitement Factor
Climax Falls Short of Intent
Cheekatilo Review and Verdict:
Cheekatilo benefits from a compelling premise, Sobhita Dhulipala’s sincere performance, and a few well-written scenes. Unfortunately, it fails to reach its full potential due to weak execution of the thriller elements, a routine investigation, and an unconvincing climax.
