New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- Indian box office footfall rose 5% in the first half of 2026, reversing three years of decline and stagnation, but the recovery remains patchy and dependent on a handful of Hindi and Marathi films, according to data from media consulting firm Ormax.

According to data from media consulting firm Ormax, 378 million people visited cinemas in January to June, from 362 million last year. Despite the growth, footfall remain below the 400 million-mark recorded in the first half of 2022, when films such as K.G.F: Chapter 2 and RRR drove audiences to theatres. The recovery has also been slate-led with a single outlier, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, alone clocking over 40 million footfall.

"The growth has not been completely unifo...