Aditya Dhar’s highly anticipated film Dhurandhar: The Revenge is set to release in under 48 hours, and ticket sales are soaring. The film has already made history by selling over a million tickets in advance bookings, making it the largest premiere in Indian cinema. With demand at an all-time high, theaters are adjusting their schedules, leading to 24-hour screenings in many locations across India.
As of now, approximately 1.5 million tickets have been sold in India, notably with nearly 800,000 for the paid previews slated for Wednesday. The film’s extended runtime of nearly four hours presents challenges for theaters, limiting them to four shows per screen during regular hours. Major chains are now scheduling a 4-hour, 40-minute window for each show to accommodate trailers and intermissions. In response to rising demand, many theaters are adding late-night and post-midnight shows, a significant shift for Indian cinema.
In Mumbai and Thane, theaters like PVR Chakala and Movie Max Sion are offering shows starting as early as 1:50 AM through to 11:30 PM. The Movie Max in Thane and Connplex Cinemas in Ahmedabad will also screen post-midnight shows from Thursday. Despite logistical challenges that might prevent some cities from implementing the same model, many theaters in Western and Southern India are expected to introduce late-night screenings in the coming days.
One notable adjustment reflecting the film’s extraordinary popularity is at the Maratha Mandir theater in Mumbai, which has showcased Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge for three decades. To make room for Dhurandhar 2, screenings of DDLJ have been moved to an early morning time slot while continuing to attract audiences.
The advance bookings for Dhurandhar 2 are impressive, with ticket sales breaking records. For the paid previews alone, approximately 800,000 tickets have been sold, generating ₹35 crore, exceeding the previous record of ₹25 crore set by Pawan Kalyan’s OG last year. The film has garnered an additional ₹21 crore from day-one advance sales. Internationally, it has made waves by being the first Indian film to earn $5 million from pre-sales in North America, bringing its total advance booking collection to over ₹125 crore globally.
Dhurandhar 2 features a stellar cast, including Ranveer Singh, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, and Rakesh Bedi. Akshaye Khanna, who portrayed the antagonist in the first film, is rumored to make a cameo appearance. Set to release on March 19, the sequel follows the massive success of its predecessor, which grossed ₹1300 crore worldwide and continues to screen in theaters over three months post-release. Analysts are optimistic that the sequel could surpass ₹2000 crore globally, potentially overtaking Dangal’s long-held box office record.