Sunny Deol. Akshaye Khanna. Anil Kapoor. Madhuri Dixit. Saif Ali Khan. Manoj Bajaypee. Netflix’s 2026 slate packs a starry punch.
IMAGE: Anil Kapoor and Vijay Varma in Family Business.
Key Points
- Marking its 10th anniversary, Netflix India unveiled a 26-title slate featuring Family Business, Hum Hindustani, and more.
- Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri star as mother-daughter in a dark-comedy, Maa Behen.
- Sunny Deol returns as a courtroom hero in Ikka, co-starring Akshaye Khanna.
As #BringBack2016 becomes the first viral trend of 2026, the timing feels fitting as Netflix India celebrates 10 years in the country. The streamer rolled out a flashy reveal of 26 upcoming films and series on Tuesday, bringing together many of the platform’s leading stars for an expansive slate announcement.
Saif Ali Khan returns to Netflix after Jewel Thief with two releases this year: A period drama Hum Hindustani and the Shah Rukh Khan-produced cop drama, Kartavya.
Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna reunite for the courtroom drama Ikka following renewed momentum in their careers, while Madhuri Dixit continues to reinvent herself with a lively, dark comedy Maa Behen that reunites her with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 co-star Triptii Dimri.
The line-up includes Rhea Chakraborty’s screen comeback in Hansal Mehta’s corporate thriller Family Business, co-starring Anil Kapoor and Vijay Varma.
Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit headline the Netflix roster
IMAGE: Saif Ali Khan in Hum Hindustani.
The evening opened with a nostalgic 10-year Netflix recap, carried by Shah Rukh Khan’s signature wit in voiceover. The video highlighted key milestones, particularly Sacred Games, the platform’s first original series. Saif Ali Khan, a key face of that show, fondly revisited his first streaming outing.
“Honestly, it feels like being at home because Netflix and I started off together 10 years ago. Sacred Games was amazing, and I think it always stood for high quality. The people that we work with, even in the production, have made sure that we make a lovely kind of good-looking and very interesting product every time,” Saif recalled.
Saif steps into history with Hum Hindustani, a post-Independence period drama centered on India’s first Lok Sabha election. The project is directed by Rahul Dholakia (Parzania, Raees) and co-stars Pratik Gandhi, marking his second collaboration with the filmmaker after Agni.
The historical drama is produced by Nikkhil Advani, who continues to expand his slate of period storytelling following Freedom At Midnight and his upcoming series The Revolutionaries.
Saif also briefly spoke about shooting his second film with the streamer, Kartavya, produced by Shah Rukh Khan and directed by Bhakshak and Malik fame Pulkit. After Sacred Games, the actor dons a police uniform again and stars opposite Rasika Dugal, who plays his wife.
IMAGE: Sunny Deol in Ikka.
Sunny Deol’s run of nostalgia-driven films continues with Ikka, where he returns in a fiery lawyer avatar. His trademark loud dialoguebaazi as the courtroom hero feels like a straight callback to his most iconic lawyer role Govind Srivastav from Damini.
Maharaj fame Siddharth P Malhotra directs the project, which also features Akshaye Khanna, Dia Mirza and Tillotama Shome.
Hansal Mehta, known for Scam 1992 and Scoop, has co-created and directed the new series Family Business with writer Niren Bhatt, best known as the architect of the Maddock Supernatural Universe.
Headlined by Anil Kapoor and Vijay Varma, the series delves into the internal power structure of India’s largest conglomerate. The ensemble cast includes Rhea Chakraborty, Neha Dhupia and Kanwaljit Singh.
Siddharth and Jimmy Shergill lead military drama Operation Safed Sagar that chronicles the Indian Air Force’s role in the 1999 Kargil War. The series also features Abhay Verma, Dia Mirza, Prajakta Koli and Adil Hussain.
Manoj Bajpayee reunites with his Special 26 director Neeraj Pandey on a new thriller titled Ghooshkhor Pandat. Directed by Ritesh Shah and written by Pandey, the film features Bajpayee as a corrupt police officer.
Bajpayee described Ajay Dixit as a ‘morally complex’ police officer that reveals a different side of him as an actor. The project has a supporting cast featuring Nushrratt Bharuccha, Divya Dutta, Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi, and Kiku Sharda.
WATCH: The characters Manoj Bajpayee likes to play
Video: Viral Bhayani for Rediff
IMAGE: Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri in Maa Bahen.
Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri reunite after Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 for Maa Behen, a dark comedy about a mother-daughter relationship directed by Tumhari Sulu fame Suresh Triveni. The film also features Ravi Kishan and digital creator Dharna Durga.
“It is a story about dysfunctional family,” Madhuri says. “When I read the story, I told myself I have to do this, because I have not done comedy in a long time.”
WATCH: Madhuri goes Dhak Dhak!
Video: Viral Bhayani for Rediff
Triptii took the opportunity to praise Madhuri.
“It felt like one happy family working together. I’ve always been a huge fan, she’s incredibly inspiring. She’s a great actress, but an even better person. I haven’t seen a more humble star. I learned so much from her,” Triptii said.
IMAGE: Pratibha Ranta and Konkona Sen Sharma in Accused.
The line-up also includes Taapsee Pannu’s gritty thriller Gandhari and the relationship drama Accused, starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Pratibha Ranta.
What’s coming back on Netflix in 2026
The Netflix slate includes returning seasons of Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover’s The Great Indian Kapil Show, Bhuvan Bam-led Dhindora, breakout hit Maamla Legal Hai starring Ravi Kishan, Barun Sobti’s acclaimed Kohrra with Mona Singh as his co-star, and the Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf-starrer Mismatched, which returns for its final season.
The anthology Lust Stories returns with a new chapter guided by an exciting quartet of Vishal Bhardwaj, Kiran Rao, Vikramaditya Motwane and Shakun Batra.
Marking her return to directing after Laapataa Ladies, Rao teased that her segment leans into the “fun aspect of lust”.
IMAGE: Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Vishal Bhardwaj and Shakun Batra.
Interestingly, some of last year’s most talked-about announcements are finally hitting screens, including Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra’s comic caper Toaster and the high-energy boxing drama Glory, starring Pulkit Samrat and Divyenndu.
However, some previously announced titles were notably absent from the update, including the Keerty Suresh and Radhika Apte-starrer Akka and Tumbbad Director Rahi Anil Barve’s fantasy epic Rakt Brahmand, both of which remain without fresh developments.
Netflix bolsters regional presence
IMAGE: Sundeep Kishan and Mithila Palkar in Super Subbu.
Netflix is significantly expanding its South Indian slate with the Tamil-language series.
In Telugu, Super Subbu marks the platform’s first original series in the language, with Sundeep Kishan playing the titular, awkward sex education teacher. The show also stars Mithila Palkar.
Legacy, starring R Madhavan, Abhishek Banerjee, Nimisha Sajayan and Gulshan Devaiah.
Other Tamil projects include the romantic comedy series #Love, featuring Vikram actor Arjun Das and Aishwarya Lekshmi, and Made in Korea, a coming-of-age drama starring Captain Miller fame Priyanka Mohan.
Anand Deverakonda leads the Telugu folk thriller Takshakudu alongside Laapataa Ladies breakout Nitanshi Goel.
