It was less than two decades ago that the term ‘100 crore club’ was coined. The occasion was Aamir Khan’s Ghajini, which earned ₹100 crore net at the domestic box office. Prior to that, films like Disco Dancer, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge had earned ₹100 crore, but always with the additional help of overseas collections. For an Indian film to touch ₹100 crore purely at the Indian box office was unthinkable.
So it is crazy to think that in just 18 years, a Hindi film is now touching the ₹1000-crore mark domestically. Dhurandhar: The Revenge has crossed ₹1000 crore net in the Indian market on April 5, its 18th day in the theatres. This marks its entry into an elite club that houses only two other films – Baahubali 2 and Pushpa 2.
Dhurandhar 2’s ₹1000-crore run
In its first two weeks, Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar 2 earned ₹938 crore in India. On its third Friday, the film saw a jump of over 20% to earn ₹21.55 crore domestically. On Saturday, it did even better, earning over ₹25.65 crore. This took its net earnings to ₹985 crore after 17 days. The spy thriller then added ₹17 crore net (by 4 PM) to sail past the ₹1000 crore mark. Given its momentum, it will not be a surprise if Dhurandhar 2 crosses the ₹1100 crore barrier too before it ends its run.
Just how staggering a feat it is can be explained when you realise that Pathaan – Shah Rukh Khan’s record-breaking blockbuster – earned just over half that amount three years ago. Similarly, Aamir Khan’s Dangal, which held the Indian box-office record for over six years, earned a little over one-third of that amount. Dhurandhar 2 has out-earned two all-time blockbusters by a factor of 2 and 3, respectively.
How Dhurandhar 2 beat Dangal and Pathaan’s records
The success of Dhurandhar 2 is splendid, but its collections are also aided by high ticket prices. Some may argue that the film’s craze is so high that even high ticket prices are not a deterrent for fans. The film has an average ticket price of ₹360-380, the highest in Indian cinema history. Dhurandhar 2 has sold around 3.2 crore tickets in India since its release, one of the highest in recent times.
Pathan actually sold more tickets during its run, ending it with 3.3 crore tickets sold. But a lower ticket price kept its collections low. However, Dhurandhar 2 is almost certain to surpass this figure in the coming days. Inflation helped it beat Dangal. The Aamir Khan film sold 3.7 crore tickets in India, but an average ticket price of ₹150-160 kept its collections relatively low.
Inflation and high ticket prices notwithstanding, Dhurandhar 2’s achievement is staggering, given that its success has come in an era when Hindi films are competing with OTT and pan-India blockbusters for eyeballs. The footfalls in theatres have decreased, and screen penetration in tier-3 Indian cities has also decreased. For a film to reach this milestone despite all deserves a standing ovation. On top of that, Dhurandhar 2 achieved all this without the family audience’s support. As an A-rated film, its reach was much lower than Pathaan, Jawan, or a pan-India hit like Baahubali.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar 2 is produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios. Apart from Ranveer, the film also stars R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun.
