Mirzapur The Movie, Obsession to Dhurandhar, The Odyssey: The success story of A-rated films in India in 2026 | Hindustan Times

There used to be a time when filmmakers used to be vary about getting an A certificate for their films, considering it would limit their audience demographic. However, the 2026 box office report till date has seen some of the biggest hits being A rated films, including the most recent example, Mirzapur The Movie. While Dhurandhar The Revenge and Jana Nayagan also didn’t seem to get hampered by the A certificate, even international films like The Odyssey and Obsession also didn’t face any limitations.Ask trade analyst Taran Adarsh if the A certification has become less of a concern for makers, and he says, “I don’t think there is much issue with that if the film does require such sequences. Take Dhurandhar, the A certificate didn’t change the film’s fate, it worked because of its content. The public knew it was an adult rated film, yet they still went to theatres and made it the biggest hit of Indian cinema. Also, a U certificate isn’t a guarantee for success. It all depends on whether the film is good or not.” He adds that earlier there used to be concerns and distributors would get worried with an A certificate, but now that isn’t the case. “The content has to work, that’s the only requisite.”Trade analyst Komal Nahta opines that the concern about A certification hasn’t vanished. “But it’s not like the end of the world due to so many films becoming successful,” he says, adding that it does create curiosity within the audience. “There was so much discourse around the foul language and adult scenes in Animal (2023), and I thought that it added about ₹100 crore to the collection because that is the way the youth today uses it. So, they felt vindicated seeing an A-list actor doing what they do in real life. These days, sometimes an A certificate adds a curiosity value and pushes the audience to the theatres, who wouldn’t have gone otherwise.”Nahta adds that the films’ success this year will also push filmmakers to work without feeling much restriction. “Also, while in metro cities people still do follow the rules, in tier 2 or 3 cities, no one bothers to check IDs. There are 14-15 year olds watching A rated films,” he says.Trade analyst Atul Mohan insists that A certificate doesn’t give the makers liberty to show “explicit content”, and the makers are also “sensible enough” to know that. “The times are changing and the major section of the film going audience is the youth which are 18+. So, the A-rated films are appealing to them.” He asserts that OTT has also contributed to this change. “The makers see that raw and gritty content works on OTT and when they come for certification, this argument comes that if it is allowed there, why not on the big screen. The success of such content on the web has made film makers braver and bolder too. They are not ready to compromise on storytelling for a UA certification’s sake,” he says.Akkshay Rathie, Director, Ashirwad Theatres Pvt Ltd, says the business concern has reduced for distributors and exhibitors as well. “It has subsided for sure as we have seen some unprecedented successes across languages and genres. It has led to the realisation that there are enough people in every social economic strata to make a film blockbuster, if the content is exciting enough.” He credits the boom of A rated successes to Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal. “Only when a certain section of the audience shows enough traction and generates revenue, it encourages filmmakers to push the envelope. That has happened with the success of Animal and resulted in many more A rated films. They have chosen to be braver as it showed that over ₹500 crore business is possible and then with Dhurandhar, even crossing ₹1000 crore,” he says.