From Anuparna Roy’s Songs of Forgotten Trees to Tanishstha Chatterjee’s Full Plate, here are all the Indian films we’re keeping our eyes peeled for in 2025, 2026.
Not every Indian film is built for box office noise. There are those that sidestep the usual playbook in favor of quieter, more uncompromising work. They come from directors operating outside Bollywood’s traditional systems—films about caste violence, queer desire, migrant survival, and rural decline. Several premièred at Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, and Venice, backed by producers like Anurag Kashyap, Neeraj Ghaywan, and Rima Das.
Newer voices are emerging as well, with up-and-coming directors like Kunjila Mascillamani (Guptam) and Anuparna Roy (Songs of Forgotten Trees) already landing festival accolades, signaling a generation of filmmakers drawn to stories the mainstream ignores.
All these films below are slated to open in 2025–2026, though as independent ventures they’re likely to have limited theatrical releases before arriving on streaming services.
Upcoming Indian Films
1. Bandar (Monkey in a Cage)
Anurag Kashyap’s social drama features Bobby Deol as a retired TV star who gets implicated in a serious charge of rape, with Sanya Malhotra in the part of his ex-girlfriend. The film shows all signs to be a return to form for Kashyap as a scathing indictment of India’s failed prison system, delays in the judiciary, and institutional cruelties. It world-premiered at TIFF in September this year but a wider theatrical release is awaited.
2. Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos
A quirky, satirical spy comedy from Aamir Khan Productions, Happy Patel marks comedian Vir Das’ directorial début alongside co-director Kavi Shastri. Das has described the film—his long-held dream project—as similar to Austin Powers and Johnny English, a genre he believes is underrepresented in India. The film stars Das as a bumbling detective, with Sharib Hashmi, Mona Singh, and Mithila Palkar in supporting roles. The film has generated attention for featuring Imran Khan in a cameo, his first screen appearance since Katti Batti in 2015. Aamir Khan also appears in an extended role. The film opens January 16, 2026.
3. Full Plate (Tanishtha Chatterjee)
In this Hindi-language drama, Kirti Kulhari plays Amreen, a hijab-wearing Muslim woman caught between personal ambition and social tradition in modern India. Sharib Hashmi, Monica Dogra, and Indraneil Sengupta also star. The film, Tannishtha Chatterjee’s second as a director, premièred at Busan and opened the Indian Film Festival of Sydney. Chatterjee, an acclaimed actor, also wrote the screenplay. The film is slated for an early 2026 release.
4. Village Rockstars 2
The much-awaited sequel to the acclaimed Assamese-language original continues the pursuit of a spirited Dhunu, now in her late teens, towards her musical dream, juxtaposed with the stark realities of rural life. Directed, written, edited, shot and produced by Assam’s Rima Das, Village Rockstars 2 revisits Dhunu seven years after the first film. Bhanita Das returns as Dhunu among a cast of mostly non‑professionals. The sequel premiered at Busan 2024 (winning the Kim Jiseok Award), and has since played at Berlin, MAMI Mumbai and other key festivals.
5. Tiger’s Pond (Vaghachipani)
Tiger’s Pond is a Kannada-language lyrical crime drama directed by Natesh Hegde. The film had its premiere in the Forum section of the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. Hegde’s previous feature, Pedro (2021), made the festival rounds to much acclaim, earning high praise and establishing him as a filmmaker to watch. Set in a quiet village nestled in the Western Ghats, Tiger’s Pond investigates the manipulative tactics of an influential landlord determined to secure a local election—and the fate of an underage shepherdess who falls prey to his will.
6. Bayaan (Testimony)
A Hindi police procedural drama, starring Huma Qureshi, Chandrachur Singh, and Sachin Khedekar, Bayaan had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival followed by a screening at Busan. Bikas Ranjan Mishra, whose debut feature Chauranga (2014) won the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and won Best Indian Feature at MAMI, has directed the film. It follows Huma Qureshi as a detective investigating sexual abuse allegations against a powerful cult leader. The release date is under wraps for now.
7. Guptam (The Last of Them Plagues)
Kunjila Mascillamani’s feature debut is a Malayalam-language drama recognized at TIFF Directors’ Lab 2025. Set in the late 1990s in Kerala, the film follows Amrutha Vijai as Sethulekshmi, a single mother whose young daughter mysteriously disappears as she navigates a series of regional disasters.
The film has drawn support from an impressive cohort of producers—Payal Kapadia, whose All We Imagine As Light won the Grand Prix at Cannes; Jeo Baby, of The Great Indian Kitchen; and actors Richa Chadha, Kani Kusruti, and Ali Fazal. Kunjila’s short Asanghadithar, which was a part of the anthology Freedom Fight, earned a Special Jury Mention at the 2023 Kerala State Film Awards.
8. Ha Lyngkha Bneng (The Elysian Field)
Pradip Kurbah’s Khasi-language film, takes place in 2047, in a remote village in the Khasi Hills with just six remaining inhabitants. Blending speculative fiction with folklore, the film explores isolation and memory amidst urban migration. It won Best Film and Best Director at the Moscow International Film Festival this year, followed by its Indian premiere at Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) 2025. The film is now headed to the International Film Festival of Kerela, which runs from December 12th to 19th.
9. I’m Not an Actor
Aditya Kriplani’s I’m Not an Actor, an India-Germany co-production, premièred at Cinequest earlier this year. The Hindi-language film follows a strait-laced actor and a retired banker—Chitrangada Satarupa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui—who meet during an online audition and end up spending the rest of the day together. The film opened in the U.K. on November 7, 2025 but has yet to secure an Indian release.
10. Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox)
Baksho Bondi, which premièred at the Berlin International Film Festival this year, is the first feature from directors Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi. The Bengali-language drama stars Tillotama Shome as Maya, a woman living in a Kolkata suburb whose ex-soldier husband—suffering from PTSD—disappears and becomes a murder suspect. Chandan Bisht, Sayan Karmakar, and Suman Saha round out the cast.
11. Songs of Forgotten Trees
Songs of Forgotten Trees, Anuparna Roy’s feature début, follows two migrant women navigating survival and intimacy in Mumbai. The Hindi-language drama premièred at the Venice Film Festival this past September, where Roy won Best Director in the Orizzonti Competition—making her the first Indian filmmaker to receive the honor in that category. Backed by Anurag Kashyap, the film stars Naaz Shaikh as an aspiring actress who does transactional sex work and Sumi Baghel as a corporate call-center worker who sublets her apartment. A theatrical release has not yet been announced.
12. Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups
Geetu Mohandas’ Kannada period gangster drama—her first feature since Liar’s Dice, India’s official Oscar entry in 2013—will be released in six languages on March 19th. The ensemble is stacked, featuring Yash, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Huma Qureshi, Rukmini Vasanth, Akshay Oberoi, and Sudev Nair. Despite rumors that Yash was ghost-directing parts of the film, co-star Sudev Nair has confirmed Mohandas’ continued involvement, keeping the anticipation intact for fans.
13. Ulta
Ulta, a Bengali-language genre thriller, premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall—one of six Indian films in the program. Directed by Paromita Dhar and produced by Hyash Tanmoy, Ulta follows the lives of Bengali and Bihari migrant domestic helpers in Bihar, laying wide open the struggles faced by footnoted communities. Not much about the film is out in the public domain, but you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for this one.
14. Panjab ’95
Long delayed and with no confirmed release date still in sight, PANJAB ’95 remains one of the most anticipated Hindi-language dramas. Director Honey Trehan tells the tale of prominent Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra during the pits of Punjab’s period of insurgency. The film was set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) but was pulled from the lineup at the last moment. It features Diljit Dosanjh, Arjun Rampal and Suvinder Vicky in key roles.
Wrapping Up
That was my rundown of the the Hindi films to keep an eye out for, in the rest of 2025 and 2026. Quite a line up there! I tried to whittle down my list to titles I’m most thrilled about. So, clear your calendars for the year ahead and bookmark this page to stay updated on their theatrical and streaming release dates.
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