Hindi
Inception tops India box office in opening weekend
MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Pictures‘ Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, has grossed Rs 75 million in its opening weekend, making it a rare occasion when Bollywood is trailing behind a Hollywood product.
Inception became the number one film to open this week. The other films that released during the week like Lamhaa, Udaan and Tere Bin Laden put up a moderate performance at the box office.
Says Big Cinemas chief operating officer Ashish Saksena, “Inception, one of the most awaited films of 2010, has lived up to all the hype that it had generated. The combination of Christopher Nolan as the director and Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead actor only added to the pre-release buzz. Across Big Cinemas, the weekend occupancies were very strong, ranging from as high as 94 per cent at some of the cinemas to close at an average of 50 per cent for all language versions.”
The Christopher Nolan-directed film released in India with 300 prints in four languages that include English (120 prints), Hindi (90 prints), Tamil (45 prints) and Telugu (45 prints).
Warner Bros. Pictures India deputy managing director (theatrical) Denzil Dias notes that given the complexity of the film, marketing and the distribution was crucial. “Therefore, it was essential that we handle the marketing and the distribution with the same passion with which the film was made. The weekend results are evident to the fact that we have pulled this off. With the buzz going around on the film, this is just the beginning and it’s on its way of becoming the biggest cult film ever,” Dias said.
While the Sanjay Dutt-Bipasha Basu starrer Lamhaa opened to occupancy of between 15 to 20 per cent and collected Rs 57.50 million over the weekend, nothing can be foretold of its future yet.
Tere Bin Laden grossed over Rs 35 million in its opening weekend from 344 screens all over India. Encouraged by the strong response, the distributor of the film, BSK Network and Entertainment, has now planned to widen the film’s release by additional 40 to 50 prints in the second week.
Debutant director Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan opened to occupancy of between 35 to 40 per cent and promises to go well with the elite audience in the coming days. The film managed to collect Rs 11.50 million.
Says Cinemax India president – sales, marketing and operations Devang Sampat, “Inception has definitely opened better than the three Hindi films. It opened well at our locations and almost everybody had praised the film. I got inputs from celebs and regular cinegoers who are raving about this amazing Christopher Nolan film. Udaan and Tere Bin Laden should pick up in the coming days but as for Lamhaa we have to wait and watch since it has got mixed reviews.”
Hindi
Dhurandhar 2 hit by YouTube leak amid record box office run
Cam-rip surfaces online but blockbuster streak continues at record pace
MUMBAI: It has been a dramatic week for Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Even as the espionage thriller smashes box office records, a piracy scare briefly threatened to steal its thunder after a full-length version surfaced on YouTube.
The leak emerged on March 30 via a channel titled “A2z movie”, which uploaded what appeared to be a cam-recorded print of the film. Clocking in at nearly three hours and 49 minutes, the footage was reportedly blurry but complete enough to spark spoilers and fan outrage online.
Soon after, users on X began flagging the issue, explicitly naming the “A2z movie” channel in their posts while tagging the film’s makers and urging swift legal action. Fans of director Aditya Dhar and lead star Ranveer Singh were particularly vocal, helping the issue gain rapid traction.
Within hours, the video was taken down, likely through a mix of platform detection systems and intervention by producers Jio Studios and B62 Studios.
Despite the leak, the film’s theatrical run remains virtually unshaken. As of March 31, the sequel has raked in an estimated Rs 872.17 crore net in India, with worldwide collections soaring to Rs 1,392.23 crore. Its Hindi opening day alone brought in Rs 102.55 crore, setting a new benchmark.
In a notable milestone, the film has matched Pushpa 2 as the fastest Indian release to cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark globally, achieving the feat in just seven days.
Interestingly, the version leaked online is believed to be an earlier cut. Midway through its theatrical run, the makers issued revised prints after eagle-eyed viewers spotted a fleeting editing error involving a cameraman’s reflection. The corrected version now plays across cinemas, adding an unusual twist to the film’s release journey.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, the high-stakes sequel stars Ranveer Singh alongside Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and Sara Arjun. The film has drawn praise for its scale and action sequences, though some critics have pointed to its intense violence and layered political themes.
For now, piracy may have made noise, but it has not slowed the juggernaut. If anything, the episode underlines the film’s cultural grip, proving that even a leak cannot derail a box office storm already in full force.
