Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar has been one of the biggest hits of Hindi film history, grossing over ₹1300 crore worldwide. The film has broken several box office records, and set its sequel up for a massive opening.
In the process, it has also registered one of the biggest profits ever earned by an Indian film, dwarfing even pan-India hits like RRR and KGF Chapter 2, and Bollywood blockbusters such as Animal.
Dhurandhar’s stupendous profit
Dhurandhar was originally supposed to be a long, single film. But weeks before its release, director Aditya Dhar and the producers decided to split it into two parts. The decision was taken as Aditya was unable to cut the film’s runtime to below six hours, making it ripe for a two-part release. That worked in Dhurandhar’s favour, allowing it to earn twice as much. But it was a risk, too, since the second part would only have been saleable if the first had worked. But the first part did work, and worked stupendously.
Dhurandhar grossed ₹1004 crore in India and $33 million overseas. Of this, the producer’s share is around ₹360 crore from the Indian box office and around $15 million from overseas. In addition, the film earned from its non-theatrical rights. Pinkvilla has reported that the film earned ₹140 crore from its digital, satellite, and music rights. This means that Dhurandhar’s total recovery from the two sources touched almost ₹650 crore. The film’s production budget was ₹400 crore, but is now split over two films. Added marketing costs bring Dhurandhar Part 1’s landing cost to around ₹250 crore. Dhurandhar’s profit stands at a healthy ₹400 crore, one of the highest-ever for any Indian film.
Dhurandhar dwarfs mega blockbusters
Dhurandhar’s ₹400 crore profit is more than what some of the biggest Indian films have earned in recent times. Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan is the only Bollywood film ahead of it with a profit of over ₹400 crore. All others, such as Pathaan ( ₹330 crore) and Animal ( ₹250 crore). Films like Gadar 2 and Stree 2 are way behind because of their lower non-theatrical earnings. Jawan only managed to surpass it because of extremely high digital and satellite rights, driven by Shah Rukh Khan’s popularity.
| Profits of major Indian films (trade estimates) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Film | Landing cost | Recovery | Profit |
| Baahubali 2 | ₹300 crore | ₹950 crore | ₹650 crore |
| Pushpa 2 | ₹500 crore | ₹1100 crore | ₹600 crore |
| Jawan | ₹350 crore | ₹780 crore | ₹430 crore |
| Dhurandhar | ₹250 crore | ₹650 crore | ₹400 crore |
| KGF Chapter 2 | ₹250 crore | ₹600 crore | ₹350 crore |
| Pathaan | ₹270 crore | ₹600 crore | ₹330 crore |
| RRR | ₹550 crore | ₹800 crore | ₹250 crore |
| Animal | ₹200 crore | ₹450 crore | ₹250 crore |
| Kalki 2898 AD | ₹600 crore | ₹750 crore | ₹150 crore |
Dhurandhar has also surpassed some pan-India hits, including SS Rajamouli’s RRR, which earned over ₹250 crore in profit, the same as Yash’s KGF Chapter 2. Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD is estimated to have incurred a profit of just over ₹150 crore. KGF 2 had low profits despite strong box-office returns, due to relatively low non-theatrical earnings. On the other hand, both RRR and Kalki earned substantial non-theatrical rights revenue, but their profits were offset by their exorbitant budgets. Both films cost over ₹550 crore each.
Dhurandhar’s ₹400 crore profit is not the highest ever for Indian cinema, though. Both Baahubali 2 and Pushpa 2 rule the roost with profits of over ₹600 crore each.
All about Dhurandhar
Directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar starred Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy in Pakistan. The film also stars Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, and Sanjay Dutt. The sequel – Dhurandhar: The Revenge – releases in theatres on March 19.