Can ‘Drishyam 3’ Crack 2026’s Top Five Openers? The Box-Office Numbers It Must Beat
As ‘Drishyam 3’ heads to theatres with strong advance sales, here’s how its possible opening compares with 2026’s biggest Indian films.
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The first day at the box office is a peculiar kind of movie review. Nobody has had much time to argue over the ending, but years of anticipation can turn into a staggering number in a matter of hours. In 2026, that number has come from every corner of Indian cinema: a Hindi spy sequel, a Kannada star’s return, Telugu spectacles, a Tamil farewell and even a crime series taking its first shot at theatres. Now another familiar name is approaching the ticket counter.
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Vijay Salgaonkar’s alibi may be watertight, but can his final outing survive a comparison with the year’s biggest openings?
Ajay Devgn returns as Vijay in ‘Drishyam: The Conclusion’, directed by Abhishek Pathak and arriving on October 2, 2026. The date is a wink to the alibi that made October 2 part of ‘Drishyam’ folklore. Tabu, Shriya Saran, Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav are among the returning faces, with Jaideep Ahlawat and Prakash Raj also in the cast. And before the first full day of screenings, the family’s last chapter has already given the trade something to discuss.
As of 11:02 am on October 1, Sacnilk’s live tracker put ‘Drishyam 3’ opening-day India advance sales at Rs 20 crore gross including seats blocked by cinemas, across 12,132 shows. The more cautious figure excluding those blocks was Rs 16.82 crore gross and about 4.49 lakh tickets. Sacnilk floated a Rs 50 crore India net opening, depending on the final booking rush and walk-ins. That is a forecast, not a collection. For context, ‘Drishyam 2’ began with Rs 15.38 crore India net in 2022.
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As ‘Drishyam 3’ enters the conversation, we decided to take a look at the biggest Indian openers of 2026. The ranking below uses Sacnilk’s India net for the official Day 1, counting all released language versions. Where a film held paid previews the previous day, those earnings stay outside its Day 1 number.
1. ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ - Rs 102.55 Crore
Released on March 19, Aditya Dhar’s sequel sent Ranveer Singh’s undercover operative back into Karachi’s dangerous power games, with Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan and Sara Arjun in the ensemble. It made Rs 102.55 crore India net on its official first day. Sacnilk also listed another Rs 43 crore net from March 18 paid previews, which explains why some opening headlines use a much bigger combined figure. Its worldwide gross eventually reached Rs 1,813.39 crore.
That Day 1 mark is the mountain in the headline. A Rs 50 crore opening for ‘Drishyam 3’ would be extraordinary for this franchise; it would still be less than half of Dhurandhar 2’s official Day 1 India net. Vijay will have to do a great deal more than remember a date to catch Ranveer’s spy.
2. ‘Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups’ - Rs 101.10 Crore
Yash’s first big-screen release after ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ arrived on August 26 with an almost unfair amount of curiosity already attached. Geetu Mohandas directed the gangster drama, whose cast includes Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth. Its opening-day India net was Rs 101.10 crore, only Rs 1.45 crore short of ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ on the same measure. Sacnilk put its worldwide gross at Rs 342.24 crore.
That near photo finish is a reminder that a huge first day and a huge final run tell different stories. ‘Toxic ‘almost matched the year’s leader out of the gate, but its worldwide total is far below Dhurandhar 2’s. For now, the opening-day podium has two films above Rs 100 crore and a considerable gap to everyone else.
3. ‘The Raja Saab’ - Rs 53.75 Crore
Prabhas swapped relentless action for a haunted family mystery in Maruthi’s fantasy horror comedy, released January 9. Sanjay Dutt plays the threatening Kanakaraju, while Malavika Mohanan, Nidhhi Agerwal and Riddhi Kumar are also part of the cast. Sacnilk recorded Rs 53.75 crore India net on Day 1, with a separate Rs 9.15 crore net from earlier previews. Its worldwide gross reached Rs 208.39 crore.
The opening proved the power of Prabhas’s name even when the genre moved from battlefield scale to haunted-house chaos. It also gives ‘Drishyam 3’ a useful target: crossing Rs 50 crore would get Vijay close, but he would need more than Rs 53.75 crore India net to pass this film.
4. ‘Peddi’ - Rs 51 Crore
Ram Charan’s ‘Peddi’ took a different route to spectacle: the struggle of a gifted sportsman fighting for his village against discrimination and powerful interests. Buchi Babu Sana directed the June 4 release, with Janhvi Kapoor, Shiva Rajkumar, Jagapathi Babu and Divyenndu alongside its lead. The official opening day brought in Rs 51 crore India net, after Rs 18.50 crore net in June 3 previews. Its worldwide gross stands at Rs 341.90 crore.
The film’s Day 1 figure sits just below ‘The Raja Saab’, but its eventual worldwide tally went comfortably beyond it. In the ‘Drishyam’ sweepstakes, Rs 51 crore is the number that separates a projected top-five opening from a shot at fourth place.
5. ‘Jana Nayagan’ - Rs 42.70 Crore
The promise of a Vijay farewell was always going to make ‘Jana Nayagan’ an event. Released July 23, H. Vinoth’s political action drama places his former cop in a confrontation with a dangerous arms dealer, played by Bobby Deol. Pooja Hegde and Mamitha Baiju also star. Sacnilk gave it Rs 42.70 crore India net on Day 1 and Rs 324 crore gross worldwide.
For ‘Drishyam 3’, this is the first particularly interesting rung of the ladder. Sacnilk’s tentative Rs 50 crore prediction would take Ajay Devgn’s film past Vijay’s opening, but ticket pre-sales alone cannot settle that contest; Friday’s actual collections will.
6. ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ - Rs 34.75 Crore
Pawan Kalyan reunited with director Harish Shankar for this March 19 Telugu action entertainer. Playing a policeman shaped by a teacher’s belief in him, he shares the screen with Sreeleela, Raashii Khanna and R. Parthiban. The film opened to Rs 34.75 crore India net, a big initial burst even though its worldwide gross ultimately settled at Rs 96.78 crore.
Its place on the list is easy to miss if you remember only the final total. Opening-day rankings measure how urgently audiences turned up, and Pawan Kalyan’s fans turned up fast. In fact, this film edges the next entry by just Rs 10 lakh.
7. ‘The Paradise’ - Rs 34.65 Crore
Released September 24, ‘The Paradise’ reunited Nani with ‘Dasara’ director Srikanth Odela for a bruising period action drama. Raghav Juyal, Mohan Babu, Sonali Kulkarni and Kayadu Lohar join him in a story of anger and power on the margins of 1980s Secunderabad. Sacnilk listed Rs 34.65 crore India net for the official Thursday opening, plus Rs 11.60 crore net from Wednesday previews. Through September 30, it has grossed Rs 154.80 crore worldwide and is still playing in theatres.
Combining the preview with Day 1 produces Rs 46.25 crore, a figure you may have seen in other opener lists. Here, the preview stays in its own column of history. That small distinction is why ‘The Paradise’ follows ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ in this ranking, despite having the larger combined launch.
8. ‘Mana ShankaraVaraprasad Garu’ - Rs 32.25 Crore
Chiranjeevi brought his comic timing back to the centre of a Sankranti release on January 12. Directed by Anil Ravipudi, the family action comedy follows a security officer trying to repair his relationship with his wife, played by Nayanthara, amid fresh danger; Venkatesh also features. Sacnilk put its official Day 1 at Rs 32.25 crore India net, in addition to Rs 9.35 crore net from January 11 previews. The worldwide gross finished at Rs 301.49 crore.
That is one of this list’s better demonstrations of staying power. Its first-day score was below several louder launches, yet its total ultimately cleared Rs 300 crore worldwide.
9. ‘Border 2’ - Rs 30 Crore
Sunny Deol returned to the 1971 war setting that made ‘Border’ a defining Hindi film, this time joined by Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty across the army, air force and navy stories. Anurag Singh directed the January 23 release. It began with Rs 30 crore India net on Day 1 and went on to Rs 450.19 crore gross worldwide.
The opening was impressive; the bigger payoff arrived over the Republic Day stretch. That makes ‘Border 2’ a useful check on the temptation to crown a winner on Friday night. By worldwide total, it stands ahead of most films ranked above it here by opening day.
10. ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ - Rs 25.75 Crore
Kaleen Bhaiya, Guddu and Munna moved from streaming to cinema screens on September 4. Gurmmeet Singh directed a parallel story linked to the first season of ‘Mirzapur’, bringing back Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Shweta Tripathi and Rasika Dugal, with Jitendra Kumar also in the ensemble. Sacnilk’s day-wise page put the India net opening at Rs 25.75 crore, while its worldwide gross had reached Rs 333.29 crore by September 30.
For a series born on a phone or television screen, that is a sizeable cinema debut. It closes this top ten just ahead of the next tier of releases, and its continuing run shows how far a familiar world can travel once fans are given a theatrical reason to revisit it.
So, Can ‘Drishyam 3’ Catch ‘Dhurandhar 2’?
On the numbers available before release, that would be a spectacular upset. If ‘Drishyam 3’ hits Sacnilk’s conditional Rs 50 crore India net projection, it would enter this ranking at No. 5, between ‘Peddi’ and ‘Jana Nayagan’. It would need to exceed Rs 53.75 crore to take third place from ‘The Raja Saab’ and Rs 102.55 crore to take the top spot from’ Dhurandhar: The Revenge’. The latter would require more than doubling that already ambitious Rs 50 crore forecast.
There is a second reason not to confuse opening-day bragging rights with the whole story. The Hindi devotional drama ‘Hanuman Ansh’ began with just Rs 10 lakh India net on August 7 and, through September 30, had reached Rs 410.57 crore gross worldwide. Directed by Vishal Chaturvedi and starring Shobhinaw Satyaa, it became a hit through endurance rather than a huge launch.
Vijay Salgaonkar’s first 24 hours will reveal where he belongs on this particular list. How long his story stays with audiences is another mystery altogether.
