Considering that he’s a scrappy kid from a decidedly unglamorous part of New York City, Spider-Man has no business being so popular in India, a land of over-the-top heroes such as Dhurandhar.
The masked superhero is the quintessential little guy. He lives in Queens, is not rich, has no flashy gadgets. Even after an upgrade of some cutting-edge technology, his uniform looks like a onesie topped off with a homemade mask.
To quote Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Spider-Man: Brand
Considering that he’s a scrappy kid from a decidedly unglamorous part of New York City, Spider-Man has no business being so popular in India, a land of over-the-top heroes such as Dhurandhar.
The masked superhero is the quintessential little guy. He lives in Queens, is not rich, has no flashy gadgets. Even after an upgrade of some cutting-edge technology, his uniform looks like a onesie topped off with a homemade mask.
To quote Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, “This is small, baby potato stuff.”
Yet in 2002, Spider-Man (then played by Tobey Maguire) made history when it became the first Hollywood film to earn more than $1 million in India. Subsequent films in the franchise did well too. But they’re all small, baby potatoes when placed next to …Brand New Day.
The superhero film recorded the biggest opening ever for a Hollywood production in India, when it crossed ₹72.50 crore (or about $7.6 million) on its first day. By contrast, Alpha, one of this year’s most-anticipated Hindi films, starring Alia Bhatt and Bobby Deol, earned ₹11.10 crore on its opening day.
In its first 10 days, …Brand New Day became the second-highest earner of 2026 in India, behind Dhurandhar: The Revenge and ahead of Border 2. It has since become the first non-Indian title to earn more than ₹500 crore (or about $52 million) here.
From a Hollywood perspective, these earnings are tiny. …Brand New Day earned nearly four times as much in China. It is from the point of view of Indian producers that Hollywood’s improved earnings in India become noteworthy. Brand New Day now tops a growing list.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has so far earned over ₹200 crore (about $21 million) and is the 10th-highest-earning film of the year so far in India.
Meanwhile, Indian films, particularly offerings from Bollywood, have struggled both critically and commercially. The stupendously successful Dhurandhar: The Revenge accounts for the bulk of Bollywood’s box-office earnings in 2026. Slapstick comedy has seen a resurgence, with films such as Dhamaal 4 and Bhooth Bangla raking it in too.
Yet, there is clearly more to Indian audiences than chest-thumping and slapstick. Offbeat Hollywood titles such as Obsession (about a wish for love that comes horribly true) and The Invite (about two couples mid-spiral) found audiences, despite limited shows and little publicity. Alongside their respectable Indian box-office collections are the success of the Partition-themed drama Main Vaapas Aaunga and the tsunami of interest in Satluj (about a Sikh activist investigating extrajudicial killings in the 1990s), which was controversially taken offline within days of its streaming release.
All of which raises the question: What it will take for Indian film industries to tap into these audiences through stories and storytellers that aren’t formulaic?
There was a time when commercial Indian cinema and Bollywood in particular were talismans against despair, offering escapism and fantasy. They also birthed a distinctive kind of modern Indian kitsch that found global popularity.
Now, these industries have become synonymous with gatekeeping and a lack of originality. It has arguably never been harder to break into one of the established film industries in India. To survive as an independent filmmaker or producer feels all-but-impossible. The net result is a roster that radiates anxiety and mediocrity.
As we ride the high of Independence Day, it’s worth remembering the soft power Indian cinema wielded in the past, when it dared to be weird, wonderful and distinctive. Let’s hope the big releases in coming months can give the audiences something to celebrate too.
(Write to Deepanjana Pal @dpanjana on Instagram. The views expressed are personal)
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