With under 48 hours left for the release of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the advance booking of tickets is in full flow. The film is breaking records with the pace of its advance booking collections worldwide and is already the biggest premiere in Indian cinema history, selling over a million tickets. With such high demand, theatres are now scrambling to add newer shows, stretching the screenings to late night and post-midnight, making Dhurandhar 2 the latest Indian film to get round-the-clock shows in many parts of India.
Dhurandhar 2 gets 24-hour shows
At the time of writing, Dhurandhar 2 has sold close to 15 lakh tickets across India in advance booking, half of which have come for the paid preview shows on Wednesday. The film’s near-4-hour runtime has made it tough for exhibitors to keep more than 4 shows per screen during regular runtime. Sources told Hindustan Times that major theatre chains are keeping a 4-hour, 40-minute window for each show, factoring in trailers, the interval, and the turnaround time between shows. With the demand surging, many theatres are now adding post-midnight shows for Dhurandhar 2, a rarity in Indian cinema.
In Mumbai and Thane, theatres like PVR Chakala and Movie Max Sion have shows over the weekend starting as early as 1.50 AM and continuing till 11.30 PM across different screens. The Movie Max in Thane and Connplex Cinemas in Ahmedabad also have post-midnight shows for Dhurandhar 2, starting Thursday itself. While replicating this model is not possible in all cities due to logistical and safety concerns, reports say that many theatres in Western and South India will follow suit over the next 24 hours and open up late-night shows for the film.
DDLJ pushed to new slot at Maratha Mandir
One of the most telling examples of Dhurandhar 2’s popularity is how Mumbai’s iconic Maratha Mandir is accommodating it. The theatre has been screening Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge for 30 years straight. The film is screened at 11.30 AM every day and still draws a good crowd today. But to accommodate Dhurandhar 2’s runtime, DDLJ has been pushed to an early morning slot at the theatre.
Dhurandhar 2 advance booking
The advance booking for Dhurandhar 2 is breaking records by the hour. For the paid previews, the film has sold almost 8 lakh tickets, grossing ₹35 crore, well above the previous India record of ₹25 crore set by Pawan Kalyan’s OG last year. The film has also earned ₹21 crore gross for day 1 advance bookings. Overseas, the Ranveer Singh-starrer has become the first Indian film to earn $5 million from pre-sales in North America. Its overall advance booking collections globally exceed ₹125 crore.
All about Dhurandhar 2
Apart from Ranveer Singh, Dhurandhar 2 also brings back R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, and Rakesh Bedi. Akshaye Khanna, who played the antagonist Rehman Dakait in part 1, is expected to appear in a cameo. The spy thriller is slated to release on March 19. The first Dhurandhar earned ₹1300 crore worldwide and is still playing in theatres over three months after its December release. Trade insiders are betting that the sequel may just cross ₹2000 crore worldwide and dethrone Dangal from the top spot it has occupied for almost a decade.
