Dhurandhar The Revenge To Border 2: Sequel Wave Took Over First Half Of 2026

Six months of 2026 have passed by, and a lot has happened in Bollywood in that period. The year began on a promising note with an exciting film release calendar. Cinegoers had many options to explore every Friday as multiple Hindi movies made it to the big screen. Whether the films were mid-budget or mounted on a higher budget, they kept movie buffs hooked to the 70 mm screen. However, no one really anticipated that Hindi film sequels would dominate the first-half of this year. Projects like Dhurandhar The Revenge, Border 2, Cocktail 2, and more were right there at the top, leading the box office game and attracting more footfalls in cinemas.The aforementioned titles not just turned out to be box office winners, but also proved that sequels are

here to stay. Let's take a look at how four movies ruled the first six months of this year.

Dhurandhar The Revenge

After the blockbuster success of Dhurandhar in 2025, fans pinned high hopes on the Ranveer Singh-starrer. Directed by Aditya Dhar, the second installment, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, was released in theatres on March 19. The stakes were high, but the film lived up to everyone's expectations. Shattering several box office records, the spy thriller made a whopping Rs 1,813.39 crore globally. In India, the movie collected Rs 1,149.30 crore. Ranveer returned as Hamza Ali Mazari/ Jaskirat Singh Rangi in part two. His co-stars R Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt, and Arjun Rampal also reprised their characters.

Border 2

29 years after JP Dutta's Border, the makers returned with Border 2, starring Sunny Deol in a lead role. The high recall value along with a fresh storyline and star cast worked in its favour. Directed by Anurag Singh, the war drama was based on the 1971 Indo-Pak war and focused particularly on Operation Chengiz Khan. According to Sacnilk, the epic war drama minted Rs 329.43 crore at the domestic box office and earned Rs 450.19 crore globally. It also featured Diljit Dosanjh, Ahan Shetty and Varun Dhawan in key roles.

Cocktail 2

Cocktail 2, released on June 19, wasn't a direct sequel to Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty's Cocktail. Instead, it served as a vibe and spiritual sequel to it. Directed by Homi Adajania, the second installment may have opened to mixed feedback, but it didn't impact the box office business. In fact, Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Rashmika Mandanna's romantic comedy made a whopping Rs 84.90 crore in India, while its worldwide collection stands at Rs 129.42 crore.

Welcome to the Jungle

12 years after Welcome Back, Welcome to the Jungle, the third installment, was theatrically released on June 26. Featuring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav, and several others, the movie received positive feedback from critics and audiences alike. Interestingly, within four days of its theatrical run, the comic caper entered the Rs 100 crore club at the worldwide box office. On the other hand, as per Sacnilk, the movie collected Rs 72.25 crore in India. The way Welcome 3 is performing at the box office, it's likely to set new records at the ticket window.Well, that's how the first-half of 2026 turned out to be commercially fruitful for Bollywood. These sequels heavily contributed to it. It will be interesting to see how the latter-half adds value and benefits the film industry.