2026 brings a rare Bollywood reunion as Salman, Shah Rukh, and Aamir Khan return with big films and powerful roles. From war stories to action thrillers, the Khans light up the year together.
Image Source: Instagram
For the first time since 2018, all three of Bollywood’s biggest Khans have films releasing in the same year. 2026 has Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Aamir Khan back on the big screen. It is the kind of year that does not come around often, and fans are well aware of that.
Salman Khan is the first one out of the gate this year. His war drama ‘Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace’, directed by Apoorva Lakhia, will hit theatres on August 14. The film is based on the real events of June 15, 2020, when around 200 Indian soldiers faced off against a Chinese Liberation Army force of nearly 1,200 troops in the Galwan Valley.
Advertisement
Salman plays Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar Regiment, who was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously for his bravery that night.
Advertisement
The film, also starring Chitrangda Singh, was one of Salman’s most anticipated releases in years. His recent track record at the box office had not been great. His last release, ‘Sikandar’, was a flop.
The most eagerly awaited film of the year is without question ‘King’, Shah Rukh Khan’s next theatrical release. It hits screens on December 24, 2026 (Christmas Eve) and it is already IMDb’s most anticipated Indian film of the year.
Directed by Siddharth Anand, who also made ‘Pathaan’ with SRK in 2023, ‘King’ is an action thriller in which Shah Rukh plays a silver-haired, highly skilled assassin. His daughter Suhana Khan makes her big theatrical debut in the film, playing his protégé. The cast around them is enormous. Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Jackie Shroff, Arshad Warsi, and Jaideep Ahlawat are all part of the film.
Abhishek Bachchan plays the main villain, and a single action sequence between him and SRK reportedly cost ₹50 crore to film, shot across Eastern Europe including Warsaw and Gdansk. In May 2026, the team moved to Cape Town, South Africa, for a song sequence featuring SRK and Deepika Padukone, who has confirmed she is pregnant with her second child but continues to be part of the shoot.
The film has been shooting since May 2025 across multiple countries. It is produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix Pictures.
Aamir Khan is not headlining any film this year. But he is still very much present, both as a producer and in small but talked-about appearances.
He produced and makes a cameo in ‘Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos’, which released in January 2026. The spy comedy, directed by and starring Vir Das, also marked the long-awaited return of Imran Khan to films, after over a decade away. Aamir appears as a character called Jimmy Mario. Reviews for the film were mixed, with critics pointing out that Aamir’s cameo arrives late and does not add much to the proceedings.
His bigger production is ‘Lahore 1947’, a Partition-era drama directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, set for release on August 13, 2026, Independence Day weekend. The film stars Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, and Ali Fazal. Aamir appears in an extended cameo and also shaped parts of the film with his creative inputs during production. The soundtrack is composed by AR Rahman, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar.
Advertisement
