Hindi
Kites falls flat in Tamil Nadu; Raajneeti wins
MUMBAI: In Tamil Nadu, politics always wins. While Kites has fallen flat with the cinema hall owners boycotting the movie in the state, it is the political drama Raajneeti that is being shown in the theatres.
The entire cast of Raajneeti didn‘t go to Colombo to the IIFA after the South India film industry threatened to ban actors attending the function, a move that has gone down well with the fraternity in Tamil Nadu.
The Hrithik Roshan-starrer Kites, however, could not fly long and the cinema theatres yesterday banned the film from screening in Tamil Nadu.
The act is seen as a result of the showdown Bollywood had with the South India film industry when several actors namely Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Govinda and Anil Kapoor, among others, attended the IIFA awards in spite of being warned not to.
Says film critic Bhawana Somaaya, “I was always of the view that holding of the IIFA awards in Sri Lanka was not the right decision. The TN film chamber had requested the Bollywood film fraternity to stay away from the awards, going by the torture Tamilians are facing there day in and out.”
The South India film fraternity warned that Bollywood should not go out to celebrate “where our brethren are suffering.”
Other future films that could also take a hit are the Sanjay Dutt starrer Lamha and Sunil Shetty‘s Red Alert.
“Some Bollywood artistes did attend the awards ceremony. Resultantly, the film fraternity in Tamil Nadu has picked up a fight and have taken the first step and pulled down Kites. I feel this fight is set to go fiercer,” observes Somaaya.
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.
