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Even Sholay did not have such an impact on cinema! Neither did Hum Aapke Hain Koun!… or Gadar—Ek Prem Katha. And all these were mega-busters of their eras, not just their years!
The aspect I am talking about is the revolution we are noticing, with the first tremors felt after December 5 when Dhurandhar hit the screens and gobbled up whatever limited chances the smaller films later had—Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 and Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri. The film Ikkis was pushed to early 2026 and yet sank.
Even Mardaani 3 was affected as a success. The rest were not successful at all, though O’Romeo was claimed to be so. Even Border 2 was said to be a losing proposition, considering its high cost.
It was almost as if the people were waiting, and saving their hard-earned moneys, to watch Dhurandhar The Revenge, scheduled for March 19.
No film released in the theatres in March before this incipient storm. No film has released since!
As for the South Indian films pegged pan-India, Toxic (scheduled for March 19 as well) backed out (despite the fact that its release date had been locked before December when no one knew where Dhurandhar would go, let alone its sequel!) citing “post-production delays”. So did Dacait: A Love Story, earlier slated for the same day, also honestly move ahead.
The conclusion is clear: Even as Dhurandhar: The Revenge continues to be on a rampage, the entertainment scene otherwise seems like a barren desert.
The first Dhurandhar is still running in some parts of the country, while the second film is a typhoon that has crossed its business already and it is a dead cert that it can even breach Rs. 1000 crore nett in India. This is one sequel that was everything it promised—and much more!
Bollywood Hungama.com reports, “A Hong Kong multiplex has announced a special back-to-back screening event featuring both chapters of director Aditya Dhar’s espionage saga. The event, titled The Dhurandhar Movie Marathon, will bring together Dhurandhar and its sequel in a single extended theatrical presentation lasting nearly nine hours! The screenings are scheduled to take place at Premiere Elements on April 12, with three planned breaks between the films. The announcement was shared by Hong Kong distributor AA Tech on social media, describing the marathon as a response to sustained audience demand for a combined theatrical viewing of the franchise.”
April Full? Not really!
And what do we have in store for April? Dacait: A Love Story hits screens on April 10, featuring Anurag Kashyap as the villain: coincidentally, he is one of the filmmakers who has not raved about either of Aditya Dhar’s films.
Priyadarshan’s comeback to Hind films, Bhooth Bangla, reaches theatres a week later (April 17), having postponed its release from April 3. And Ginny Wedss Sunny 2 (the lack of confidence is seen in the title’s spelling!) featuring no star, hits the movie halls on April 24. Even the Malayalam Mohanlal-Mammootty biggie, Patriot, has been moved from April 24 to May 1!
In fact, the other next biggie, also from Dhurandhar co-producers Jio Studios, will be Raja Shivaji, another patriotic drama on the great Maratha Emperor, Chhatrapati Shivaji. Directed by Riteish Deshmukh for his producer-wife Genelia, it features him in the title-role with Sanjay Dutt (also from Dhurandhar!), Abhishek Bachchan, Fardeen Khan, Vidya Balan and many seasoned supporting actors.
A filmmaker recently told me, “Now only ‘event’ movies will work big-time in the theatres! People will no longer spend on what they feel are ordinary movies when they can watch them after eight weeks free of charge on OTT!”
So will Raja Shivaji take over? After all, Border 2, again a patriotic film, was expected to somewhere match the Dhurandhar frenzy. It emphatically did not, and even fell woefully short of Border, which was the biggest hit of 1997, and was the first ever to mention the enemy as Pakistan and not by earlier-preferred timid names (for Pakistan or China) as “dushmun desh (enemy nation)!”
But there is no denying that Dhurandhar has set an absolutely brilliant new benchmark for spy dramas as well as patriotic movies. Nothing run-of-the-mill or even slightly above average will be tolerated now. Bollywood Hungama.com has even reported that Yash Raj Films is considering alterations to their Spy Universe. This is in view of the disastrous faring of War 2 and the indifferent Tiger 3.
Uncannily, while we had a good number of film releases on OTT even amidst the Dhurandhar wave, there is a paucity of good series as well today. And the reasons for this are unknown.
Meanwhile, enjoy this whopper of an oasis in the entertainment desert!
