Another day of previews for Dhurandhar: The Revenge remained on sale exclusively in India, and it maintained a steady pace, with an additional Rs. Its earning is around Rs 1.75 crore. Advance amount for paid preview now Rs. Including the dubbed versions, it grosses approximately over Rs 14.75 crore. 15 crores nett. Breaking this number, two national chains (PVRINOX and Cinepolis) are making Rs. Earned Rs 10.50 crore, sold 222,000 tickets.
The remaining opening weekend sales were expected to begin tomorrow, but this did not happen. The delay is due to a dispute between distributors and exhibitors over revenue sharing of the original Dhurandhar and the exclusivity of this film. The issue of the show’s exclusivity is easy to resolve, given that it has a four-week run, three of which are open air anyway. There will be a competition with Bhoot Bangla in the fourth week and there is talk of settling the same. These types of tug-of-war situations are quite common. However, the former case is something new.
The first film was a late release, actually taking off in the second week. Looking at the NETT numbers, this doesn’t seem to be an issue, but the real money the distributors/producers get is the share, and the share terms are significantly lower by the third week, which means distributors were not getting money up to the level of the film’s heavy business. As mentioned earlier in Dhurandhar’s Arthashastra, the film was likely made at Rs. With this, Rs 50 crore of shares. It has now been revealed that the distributor is demanding 5 per cent more share, which, if accepted, would be quite unprecedented. Share terms in Indian cinema are obviously quite stringent for films, especially for regional film industries. Improvements on this front are long overdue, and the industry could perhaps have addressed it during the Covid downtime, but that’s a different matter.
Coming back to the pre-sale, it’s unclear when the issue will be resolved, although it apparently will be. Until then, Previews will continue to enjoy pre-sale exclusivity. At the current pace the film will probably be close to Rs 1 crore. Earning of Rs 20 crore till Monday. There will be a decline in momentum as selling commences over the remaining days of the weekend, and this could delay the rupee. 20 crore nett, but it will definitely be done before release. Actually, Rs. 25 crores nett is a very good possibility.
That’s a big number, but the real fireworks will begin as opening day progresses and the rest of the weekend unfolds. The way the film is being sold overseas is absolutely ridiculous; Such absurdity has not been seen yet in India. A few reasons for this are, a) Hindi movies generally don’t go on sale this early, b) evening and late night shows currently on sale tend to be at extremely premium prices. These work for metros and big A centres, but going forward, they won’t sell as strongly, at least this far into pre-sales. Once early day and weekend shows start going on sale at closer to normal prices, smaller A and B centers in the Hindi heartland will also join in, and growth will explode. Till then, keep an eye and patience.
Also read: Dhurandhar The Revenge Box Office: Ranveer Singh starrer Toofan crosses the crore mark. Advance amount of Rs 50 crore worldwide