Filmmaker Aditya Dhar created a stir at the box office with his recent release, Dhurandhar. The spy thriller, starring Ranveer Singh in the lead role, has been breaking several box office records since its release and has achieved yet another feat. Dhurandhar has surpassed Pathaan to become the highest-grossing Bollywood film in North America.
Dhurandhar’s collection in North America
According to Sacnilk, the film has crossed $17.50 million in North America by the end of the fourth Tuesday, thus surpassing Pathaan’s collection of $17.49 million. This makes Dhurandhar the highest-grossing Bollywood film in North America. However, it is still the third highest-grossing Indian film there, with the top two spots held by Kalki 2898 AD ($18.50+ million) and Baahubali 2 ($20+ million).
Earlier, in an interview with CNN-News18, the film’s distributor, Parnab Kapadia, revealed that due to the film’s ban in Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, along with Pakistan, the film suffered a financial loss of at least $10 million. All these countries have been major markets for Indian films in recent years.
He said, “I think this is at least a $10 million (around ₹90 crore) box office loss, because traditionally, action films have always performed very well in the Middle East. Therefore, we strongly feel that the film should have received a release there. We are not the first film to be denied a release; Fighter was also not released before this, along with several others. We made every possible effort to ensure the film was released, but ultimately, Dhurandhar has found its audience — if not in the Gulf, then elsewhere.”
About Dhurandhar
Helmed by Aditya Dhar, the spy action thriller is the first instalment of a two-part film series. It tells the story of an Indian spy infiltrating Karachi’s criminal and political underworld in Pakistan. The plot weaves together several real-life events involving geopolitical tensions, such as the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and events surrounding Operation Lyari.
The film stars Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan and Sanjay Dutt in lead roles, along with Rakesh Bedi, Sara Arjun and Danish Pandor in key roles. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, strong word-of-mouth among audiences helped turn it into a commercial success. Dhurandhar has collected over ₹1,100 crore worldwide so far and shows no signs of slowing down.
