There is a particular kind of electricity that only a packed cinema hall in India can generate – the whistles that greet a hero’s slow-motion entry, the applause that rolls like thunder followed by the collective hush before a twist lands.
For a while, that electricity seemed to be fading. Streaming thinned crowds and big budget films faltered. Even big releases opened to less than passionate responses.
And then, in December, came Dhurandhar.
By the end of 2025, the spy thriller hadn’t just topped the box office – it had blown it open, grossing about $155m (£116.34m) worldwide and ranking among Hindi-language cinema’s biggest hits.
The surge spilled into theatres: in February, India’s largest multiplex operator PVR Inox reported, external footfalls rose nearly 9% year-on-year in the quarter to December, powered by Dhurandhar, whose record run helped lift the chain’s overall box-office collections 13% last year.
That mood has only intensified with the release of its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which opened last week to blistering demand.
More than 1.5 million tickets were snapped up in advance across five languages – early proof of a frenzy few films command.
At nearly four hours, the sequel is bigger, louder and more indulgent than the original. Audiences are crowding the theatres. Cineplexes across India are packing in up to three dozen near round-the-clock shows daily, running from early mornings to late nights.
“The sequel is creating history. It is shattering all previous records and redefining the box office. A true game changer,” says Taran Adarsh, a film trade analyst.
The original three-hour-34-minute Dhurandhar delivered a high-octane mix of espionage, gang wars and patriotic fervour. Anchored by actor Ranveer Singh’s swaggering spy on a perilous Karachi mission, director Aditya Dhar’s film paired slick action with India-Pakistan tensions – earning praise for its pace while fuelling a debate over its politics.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge picks up from that cliffhanger, deepening a long-running Indian intelligence operation inside Karachi’s criminal and political underworld.
