Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar is continuing its victory lap at the box office and is showing no signs of stopping even after 25 days in theatres. By earning over Rs 1101 crore, the spy-actioner has become the only non-multilingual Indian film to enter Rs 1000-crore club. However, the film's distributor, Parnab Kapadia revealed that the film had potential to mint more at the global box office if not for its ban in several Middle Eastern nations.
Speaking to CNN News 18 in a recent interview, Parnab Kapadia noted how the film had incurred significant financial losses in these regions. "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."
"At the same time, we have to respect the views, rules and regulations of every territory and country, as they have their reasons. Fighter was also not released before this, and several others. So we, of course, made a full attempt at ensuring that we put our best foot forward for the release. But I think ultimately, the film has found its audience, if not in the Gulf, then elsewhere," he added.
Pranab pointed out that the December holiday season helped soften the impact of the ban, as many viewers from the Gulf managed to watch the film while travelling overseas. He mentioned that several of them were on vacation during December and had travelled from the Gulf to Europe or the US, where they were able to catch the film. He added that the release coinciding with the latter half of December, typically a holiday period, worked in the film’s favour, as people travelling abroad made time in their schedules to watch Dhurandhar.
For the unversed, the spy action drama faced a ban in several Middle Eastern nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman after authorities reportedly objected to its anti-Pakistan messaging. Despite the ban, the film has emerged as a blockbuster worldwide.
Dhurandhar follows the story of an Indian intelligence operative (Ranveer Singh as Hamza Ali Mazari), who infiltrates Pakistan's underworld at the behest of an Indian spymaster Ajay Sanyal (Madhavan). The film has been receiving rave reviews from celebrities and fans following its release, but has also been significantly criticised for its hyper violent narrative and catering to right-wing ideologies.
The cast also features Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait, R Madhavan as Ajay Sanyal, Sanjay Dutt as Chaudhary Aslam, and Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal of the ISI. Sara Arjun took on the role of the female lead for the first time in this film after being part of several projects as a child actor.
As reported earlier, Dhurandhar 2 is set for a March 19, 2026, release in theatres. Apart from Hindi, the film's makers are set to release its sequel in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu as well.