Bollywood’s release calendar is narrowing to two genres, and Anurag Kashyap says the shift is already visible at the project stage. If you are not making a patriotic or devotional film right now, getting a green light is becoming almost impossible.
Two genres, one chokehold
Kashyap, who is backing the children’s film Little Thomas as producer and executive producer, told Hindustan Times that 2026 is becoming the year of patriotic and devotional cinema. Three of the four biggest Bollywood hits this year — Dhurandhar 2, Hanuman Ansh and Border 2 — fit that bracket, and several more titles have been announced since.
The mood among producers is just as telling. Kashyap recalled a conversation where a producer said, “We don’t know what to do”. The options, as Kashyap described them, come down to two: a patriotic film or a devotional film. “Otherwise, nothing else is getting greenlit. That is a fact and a tragedy,” he said.
For Kashyap, making independent cinema now is as much about morale as money. “Film banana hi difficult hai (It is difficult to make films),” he said. “Whether it’s a children’s film or an adult film, making your own film is difficult today.”
Why Little Thomas could still sneak in
Little Thomas, written and directed by Kaushal Oza, stars Gulshan Devaiah and Rasika Dugal, with child actor Hridansh Parekh in the title role. It releases in cinemas on October 23. Kashyap sees the crowded two-genre slate as, oddly, an opening for a slice-of-life film.
“Hopefully, this film will sneak in, because this is not like any other film out there,” he said.
He also questioned the easy label. A child protagonist does not automatically create a children’s film. He pointed to the Telugu film Don’t Trouble The Trouble, starring Fahadh Faasil and backed by SS Rajamouli, and the widely discussed series Adolescence as stories about young people that are really aimed at adults.
What the slate means for fans
For fans, the trend is visible before a trailer drops. If theatrical lineups keep tilting towards patriotic and devotional themes, thrillers, rom-coms, dramas and family films could stay on the margins. That makes it harder to find variety on a Friday, even when the industry is having a successful year.
Audiences who want broader cinema can do one simple thing: show up early for a smaller, well-reviewed film. In this case:
- Watch the Little Thomas trailer and music before release week.
- Book an opening-weekend ticket instead of waiting for blockbuster word of mouth.
- Follow the cast and producers to catch limited theatrical runs early.
Little Thomas becomes an early test when it opens on October 23, showing whether enough viewers still want something outside the patriotic-devotional wave.
Source: Hindustan Times