Hindi
Dhurandhar storms box office; sets new records
MUMBAI: Aditya Dhar’s espionage thriller has done what spies do best: infiltrated enemy territory and extracted maximum value. Dhurandhar, the Ranveer Singh-led action spectacular, has raked in Rs 552.70 crore worldwide in just ten days, making it the fastest Hindi film to breach the half-billion mark since records began keeping track.
The film notched up Rs 58.20 crore net on its second Sunday (15 December)—the biggest Sunday ever for a Hindi film—taking its total India net haul to Rs 364.60 crore. India gross stands at Rs 430.20 crore, with overseas markets chipping in Rs 122.50 crore. That’s a lot of popcorn.
Released on 5 December, the film opened with Rs 218 crore net in its first week, then refused to slow down. Second Friday brought Rs 34.70 crore, second Saturday Rs 53.70 crore, and then came Sunday’s monster haul. The makers boast that every day has been bigger than the previous from the first Monday onwards—a claim that suggests audiences are either spreading the word or buying multiple tickets.
Dhurandhar has now registered the biggest second Friday, second Saturday and second Sunday in Hindi cinema history. Packed houses, midnight screenings and round-the-clock shows continue unabated. “The Dhurandhar wave has now become a worldwide phenomenon,” crowed the makers, “driven by unprecedented word of mouth.”
The high-octane thriller, directed and written by Dhar, follows covert intelligence operations against a backdrop of real events: the Kandahar plane hijack, the 2001 Parliament attack and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Singh leads a cast that includes Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan and others. Set largely in Lyari, a rough neighbourhood in Karachi known for gang wars and turf battles, the film has sparked polarising reactions from critics and audiences alike.
Produced by Aditya and Lokesh Dhar’s B62 Studios with Jio Studios, the film proves that in Indian cinema, nothing succeeds like excess. Whether Dhurandhar can sustain this blistering pace or will eventually run out of ammunition remains to be seen. For now, it’s conquered the box office with military precision.
Hindi
Rashmika Mandanna, Shanaya Kapoor and Naila Grrewal climb IMDb’s Indian celebrity rankings
Upcoming films and returning shows are driving fan interest across Bollywood and streaming
MUMBAI: Bollywood’s popularity contest has a new weekly scorecard, and the numbers are telling. IMDb’s Popular Indian Celebrities list for this week places Shanaya Kapoor at number six, buoyed by buzz around her film Tu Yaa Main. Naila Grrewal slots in at seven on the back of the returning comedy series Maamla Legal Hai, while Rashmika Mandanna climbs to eighth, riding mounting anticipation for Cocktail 2.
The list, available exclusively on the IMDb app for Android and iOS, tracks trending Indian entertainers and filmmakers each week, drawing on data from more than 200m monthly visits to the platform worldwide.
Further down the rankings, Raaka is keeping two of its biggest names in the spotlight. Deepika Padukone holds 11th position, with Allu Arjun close behind at 13th, as the film continues to find traction with audiences.
The list offers fans a weekly pulse on who is breaking through, who is holding steady, and who is fading. It is a barometer as unsparing as the box office itself.
