Hindi
Karnataka HC stays entertainment tax order on Kannada films
BANGALORE: A division bench of the Karnataka High Court has stayed the operation of a 17 September 2008 order of a single bench, quashing a provisio of Section 4 of the Karnataka Entertainment Tax Act 1958. Exhibitors of Kannada will now have to pay Rs 48 per show instead of Rs 118.
The exhibition of non-Kannada films, however, will still attract an entertainment tax of Rs 118.
The provisio allowed the state to levy entertainment tax for the state’s languages – notably Kannada, Konkani, Kodava, Tulu and Banjara and a different one for exhibiting films of other languages in Karnataka.
Contesting that the Kannada film industry was small and ill-equipped to compete with films of other languages, the State had filed an appeal, stating that by virtue of the earlier single bench order, it was forced to collect Rs 118 per show irrespective of the language of a film.
The State earns about Rs 560 million annually by way of entertainment tax from 790 theatres. Twenty nine per cent of the revenue comes from theatres in Bangalore.
An Ernst & Young report pegged the revenue of the Kannada film industry for FY 2009 at just about Rs 500 million, a little more than 2 per cent of the Rs 17.73 billion revenues earned by the South Indian Film industry made up of the four states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Hindi
Dhurandhar the revenge storms past Rs 1,000 crore in a week, rewrites box office records
Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller sets fastest run to Rs 1,000 crore with record-breaking weekday hold
MUMBAI: The box office has a new juggernaut—and it is moving at breakneck speed. Dhurandhar the revenge has smashed past the Rs 1,000 crore mark worldwide in just a week, clocking a staggering Rs 1,088 crore and resetting the rules of the blockbuster game.
Backed by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, and directed by Aditya Dhar, the spy action sequel opened to the biggest weekend ever for an Indian film globally—and then refused to slow down. Unlike typical tentpole releases that taper off after Sunday, this one powered through the weekdays with rare muscle, posting Rs 64 crore on Monday, Rs 58 crore on Tuesday, Rs 49 crore on Wednesday and Rs 53 crore on Thursday.
The numbers stack up to a formidable first-week haul. India collections stand at Rs 690 crore nett and Rs 814 crore gross, while overseas markets have chipped in Rs 274 crore, taking the worldwide total to Rs 1,088 crore in just eight days.
The film’s opening weekend alone delivered Rs 466 crore, laying the foundation for what is now being billed as the fastest climb to the Rs 1,000 crore club in Indian cinema. Every single day of its first week has set fresh benchmarks, from the highest opening weekend to the strongest weekday hold—metrics that typically separate hits from phenomena.
A sequel to the earlier hit Dhurandhar, the film has not just built on its predecessor’s momentum but obliterated previous records, emerging as the biggest global blockbuster run by an Indian film to date.
At this pace, the film is not merely riding a wave—it is creating one.
