Ravi Teja's Irumudi Becomes 2026's Most-Watched Telugu Film

Ravi Teja's Irumudi has quietly pulled off something bigger stars couldn't manage this year. It's now the most-watched Telugu film in theatres in 2026, with 1.45 crore admissions since it opened on August 21, according to Koimoi's tracking of trade numbers. That tally pushes it past Ram Charan's Peddi and Chiranjeevi's Mana Shankara Vara Prasad, two films that opened bigger and louder.

Footfall is the number that matters here, not just money. It counts actual bodies in seats, and Telugu audiences don't show up in those quantities unless word of mouth is doing serious work. Twenty-six days into its run, Irumudi has grossed 184.20 crore net in India on a budget of 35 crore. Strip out the cost and you're left with 149.2 crore in pure profit, a return of 426.3 percent by Koimoi's math. Whichever way the trade wants to slice it, that's a super-hit.

Only one Telugu release has beaten that margin this year: Couple Friendly. Widen the lens to 2025 and Irumudi still holds fourth place, trailing Couple Friendly and two smaller films from last year, Little Hearts and Raju Weds Rambai. For a mid-budget emotional action drama without a pan-India cast around it, that's a strange and welcome place to land.