Top 17 Films to Watch This Week: From Sigma to Prem Keetanu and Every Theatre Release Hitting Screens on October 2, 2026

Festival weekends in South India mean one thing: everyone wants a screen. This October 2, nine South Indian films arrive together, plus a Hindi comedy and several strong holdovers. Here’s a plain-English guide so you can pick your show without scrolling through listings for an hour.

The Full Film Lineup

*One Variety India listing shows Baththa and Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai opening on October 1, while another says the week’s slate starts October 2. Check your local theatre for exact showtimes.

Tamil: Heists, Gangsters and a Marriage Gone Wrong

Sigma is Jason Sanjay’s directorial debut, a heist action comedy led by Sundeep Kishan and Faria Abdullah. Kishan’s character is pulled into a world of drugs, gambling and a ₹500 crore racket he never wanted. Trade expert Ramesh Bala expects it to benefit from strong visibility and pre-release buzz.

Baththa may be the week’s most unusual pitch. Vijay Sethupathi and Lijo Mol star in Balaji Tharaneetharan’s action drama set in 1986 Madras, where an eight-year-old boy accidentally traps a feared gangster in a deserted school toilet. An odd bond follows.

Anbil Avan starts as a marriage story. Ashok Selvan and Preity Mukhundhan play a couple whose ordinary life slowly turns into something dangerous. The shift from romance to thriller is its hook.

Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai finally reaches Indian theatres after a festival run abroad. Ram directs Nivin Pauly, Anjali and Soori in a romantic psychological thriller about love, fate and redemption, with music by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Don’t Trouble the Trouble: One Film, Three Languages

You may see this title listed twice, but it’s one film released in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil. Shashank Yeleti’s fantasy comedy stars Fahadh Faasil as Suri, a magician whose carefully built world changes after he meets a young girl with real supernatural powers. Ssara Palekar and Saurabh Sachdeva co-star. If you like magic mixed with humour, this is your pick for a family outing.

Kannada: Three Very Different Bets

Pinaka stars Golden Star Ganesh in an action fantasy directed by Dhananjaya, with Nayan Sarika, Sadhu Kokila and Rangayana Raghu in support. Its story is being kept under wraps.

Bail reunites Shiva Rajkumar with director Pavan Wadeyar for a mystery-led action drama. Sangeetha Krish, Saikumar, Jayaram, Dheekshith Shetty and Sanjana Anand round out the cast, and the plot is deliberately guarded.

Trikaaram is the third Kannada release this week. I couldn’t find reliable plot or cast details for it, so check its trailer or your local listings before booking.

Prem Keetanu: The Hindi Option

Veer Pahariya headlines Apoorv Singh Karki’s college comedy about friends navigating love, heartbreak and career worries. Aafiya Sayed, Aparshakti Khurana and Rakesh Bedi co-star. It’s a light, old-school Hindi film in flavour.

Meesaya Murukku 2

This is the Tamil sequel, directed and scored by Hiphop Tamizha Adhi. It is set in North Chennai and follows three generations of musicians shaped by their love for Gaana. The 2017 original was a partly fictionalised biopic of Adhi’s early life and was a box-office hit. Critics gave the sequel mixed reviews, but it scored close to ₹14 crore net over the opening weekend, beating the opening weekend of Gatta Kusthi 2. By day 5 it had about ₹19.3 crore net against a reported budget below ₹20 crore, so it is set to be a clean success.

Dorothy

The movie is Karthik Subbaraj’s Tamil drama. It premiered at TIFF 2026, released on September 25, and opened to mixed reviews. It is set in rural Tamil Nadu in the early 1990s and follows two boys who stay close as they grow up amid caste barriers, violence and toxic masculinity. It is a limited, experimental film rather than one of Subbaraj’s larger commercial outings, and it earned ₹2.07 crore net in two days, helped by better word-of-mouth on day 2. I couldn’t verify your ₹3.55 crore three-day figure, though it fits that trajectory. I also couldn’t confirm the Ilaiyaraaja score in the sources I found.

Mandaadi

The film is directed by Mathimaran Pugazhendhi and released on September 10. Wikipedia describes it as a sea-based action drama, with Soori leading and Suhas making his Tamil debut. Trade coverage calls it a sports drama instead. It is a big hit, with ₹81.9 crore net by day 14 and a likely path to ₹100 crore, which would be Soori’s first.

The Paradise

It is Nani’s Telugu film, and your ₹113 crore figure looks outdated. After six days it has ₹101.50 crore India net and ₹150.50 crore worldwide gross. It is Nani’s first ₹100 crore film in India. Great Andhra calls the run disappointing after a strong start, because widespread negative reviews led to sharp drops. It carries a reported budget of ₹150–204 crore, and it earned ₹4.40 crore net on day 6.

Drishyam 3 and Drishyam: The Conclusion

The Malayalam Drishyam 3 isn’t still holding. It released on May 21, 2026, and its run is complete. It grossed ₹237.70 crore, the highest in the franchise. The Hindi film is a separate release. Abhishek Pathak directs it, with Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shriya Saran and others, and it opens October 2. Advance bookings had reached about ₹13.54 crore gross for day 1, and it is expected to be Devgn’s biggest opener.

Avengers: Endgame Encore

The movie is a re-release with extra material. It arrived in India on September 25 with about four minutes of new footage bridging to Avengers: Doomsday, due December 18. Your ₹30 crore in five days matches Pinkvilla. It has become the biggest Hollywood re-release in India, passing Interstellar, and has a shot at Sanam Teri Kasam’s ₹42 crore record for any re-release.

Which Film Should You Watch?

With nine new films sharing screens, word of mouth will decide who survives. Exhibitors usually give bigger star casts more shows in week one, then adjust quickly based on audience response. My quick guide: pick Sigma for a fun heist, Baththa for something offbeat, Don’t Trouble the Trouble for a family fantasy, and Anbil Avan if you like thrillers with a twist. For background on the industry behind many of these titles, see Tamil cinema on Wikipedia.

Planning your weekend viewing? Browse more box office and movie updates on Technosports, or check our OTT release guides for what to stream at home.

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