‘Only Border 2 worked; Assi didn’t click; Dhurandhar watched on repeat,’ says Manoj Desai on 2026 box office

The first two months of 2026 have largely been underwhelming for Hindi cinema at the box office. With several releases struggling to draw audiences to theatres, only Border 2 has managed to emerge as a commercial success.In a conversation with IANS, veteran film exhibitor Manoj Desai weighed in on the performance of Hindi films so far this year. Praising the Sunny Deol-led film, Desai said, “‘Border 2’ was very good. Sunny Deol's previous films were also very good. Both brothers, Abhay Deol, Sunny Deol ji, and his entire family, his third brother, all their films were very good.”Border 2, which also stars Varun Dhawan, opened to strong numbers over the Republic Day weekend, collecting over Rs 30 crore on day one. The film maintained momentum through its opening week and has continued a steady run at the box office, making it one of the biggest Hindi hits of 2026 so far.Speaking about Assi, starring Taapsee Pannu, which failed to attract large footfalls, Desai said the film did not perform as expected but wasn’t a complete washout either.“Anyhow, the movie did not go well, but it did not go so bad. The public comes, the public goes, that's it. The rest is not a super duper thing,” he said.When asked whether viewers are turning away from content-driven films, Desai disagreed.“I don't think so, because Mardaani was also there. Again, it was a ladies-oriented subject. Mardaani 1, Mardaani 2, they have done terrific,” he said, pointing out that strong storytelling still finds an audience. Talking about audience favourites, Desai highlighted the violent action film Dhurandar.“‘Dhurandar’, the most violent film. Critics ask, ‘How can there be so much violence? The public goes mad’. But still the audience saw everything. People have watched it on repeat,” he remarked.