Agastya Nanda made his first step into Bollywood movies with Ikkis, a strong story about war that came out in theaters on January 1, 2026.
The film comes from the real-life tale of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, India's youngest soldier to win the top bravery award called Param Vir Chakra during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.
Well-known director Sriram Raghavan led the project, and it includes the late actor Dharmendra in his very last movie role. Other key actors are Jaideep Ahlawat, Aadyanshi Kapoor, Ekavali Khanna, Simar Bhatia, and Sikandar Kher. People who watched it say the group of actors brings deep feelings and brave actions to the screen in a real way.
The movie started well on its first day, which was a New Year's holiday on Thursday. It earned Rs 7 crore net in India, based on early reports from Sacnilk and numbers from producers at Rs 7.28 crore.
This good beginning put Ikkis in the top five list for opening days of new actors in Hindi films during early 2026. Around the world, day one brought in about Rs 8.25 crore, with most money from India and not much from outside countries, but talk among viewers helped it gain speed even with fewer theater seats available.[3][4]
On the second day, Friday, the earnings dropped a bit as expected after the holiday excitement. It made Rs 3.5 crore net in India, according to Sacnilk, though some trade reports say between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 3.5 crore. After two days, the total in India net reached Rs 10.5 crore, and worldwide it went past Rs 12 crore, exactly Rs 12.5 crore from reports.
For Hindi shows, the seats filled up to 14.72% overall. Morning shows had 5.75%, afternoon reached 14.73%, evening got 18.06%, and night shows hit the highest at 20.33%. This rise shows more people started liking it through word of mouth.
Ikkis did better than the romantic comedy Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri, starring Kartik Aaryan and Ananya Panday, over those same two days. That movie only got Rs 1.3 crore on Thursday and Rs 0.5 crore on Friday, and it faces trouble reaching Rs 30 crore inside India after nine days. Ikkis pulled in more viewers with its serious war theme, even though it just came out and competes with bigger films.
Still, Ikkis stays behind the huge hit Dhurandhar with Ranveer Singh, which is now on day 29. Dhurandhar made more than Rs 8 crore on its recent Thursday and heads to Rs 750 crore in India plus over Rs 1160 crore worldwide.
Even with Dhurandhar taking most theater spots, Ikkis kept a steady place and shows war stories can still attract crowds during busy holiday times. All these earning numbers come from places like Sacnilk, trade watchers, and public info, so they count as close estimates updates may come via toientertainment@timesinternet.in.