Diwali Week Brings Eight Major Releases to Indian Screens as Ramayana Leads Box Office
Dragon Media News Desk
The week of November 1–7 was marked by Diwali releases and competition among films in several Indian languages. Hindi film Ramayana: Part 1 opened on November 5, followed the next day by films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The week’s release listings featured eight Indian films: Ramayana, Scene, Mookuthi Amman 2, Appa Kutty, Summer Holidays, Hatah, Disco and Bhavantara.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana: Part 1 stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. The film was released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Early reviews praised its visual scale and production, while some critics raised concerns about its storytelling and pacing.
Box-office tracker Sacnilk estimated that Ramayana earned Rs 648.5 million net in India on its opening day. It added an estimated Rs 480.5 million on its second day, taking its two-day India net total to Rs 1.129 billion. Friday’s collection was about 25.9 percent lower than Thursday’s. These are preliminary trade estimates.
Among the South Indian releases, Tamil film Scene, starring Suriya, Nazriya Nazim and Naslen, earned an estimated Rs 191.5 million net in India on its first day, according to Sacnilk. Nayanthara’s Mookuthi Amman 2 earned an estimated Rs 18.8 million net on its opening day. Scene is an action comedy about a police team, while Mookuthi Amman 2 is a devotional fantasy.
Other releases included the Tamil crime drama Appa Kutty; the Telugu children’s drama Summer Holidays and supernatural mystery Hatah; the Malayalam crime thriller Disco; and the Kannada social drama Bhavantara. The latter explores the lives and experiences of transgender people.
The busy release week came amid broader growth in India’s film market. An industry report said the Indian box office had exceeded Rs 110 billion by September 2026, with annual business projected to approach Rs 150 billion. Analysts said contributions from Hindi, regional and foreign films were making the market less dependent on a handful of major releases.
