Dhurandhar Turns Big After Slow Start

The Bollywood film Dhurandhar has suddenly become a hot topic everywhere. Before release it had very little buzz, but once the movie is out the situation changed completely. The way director Aditya Dhar presented the story that connects terror attacks and the Pakistan underworld impressed a large section of the audience.

Even though a few people are criticizing it, the negativity is not affecting the film at all. Trade circles in the North say that Dhurandhar entered the 150 Cr (Gross) club within three days, which is a huge jump for a film that started slow.

In the Telugu states Dhurandhar received an unexpected boost because Akhanda 2 was postponed. Many screens that were reserved for Balakrishna’s film were shifted to Dhurandhar. With strong occupancy on Sunday, the show count rose sharply in cities and towns.

One more interesting thing is happening. In Mumbai the film is getting midnight and early morning shows, something that only blockbusters receive. Earlier this rare treatment was given to films like Jawan, Pathaan, Animal, Gangubai Kathiawadi and Pushpa 2. Dhurandhar has now joined that list.

What makes this success even more surprising is the film’s format. It runs for more than 3 hours and it is a serious drama with almost no entertainment fillers. Most of the story takes place in Pakistan and there are hardly any Indian locations. But Aditya Dhar managed to keep the audience glued to the screen. Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt are getting huge praise for their performances, while Ranveer Singh is being spoken about only after them. With not much competition around, Dhurandhar looks set for a long run.

The film also crossed 2M dollars in overseas even though ticket prices there were mostly under 15 dollars. On Day 3 itself it collected nearly $800K. That is considered a very strong performance for a film of this genre.