Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar continues its historic run at the box office, rewriting record books with every passing week. Since its release on December 5, the Aditya Dhar directorial has become the highest-grossing Indian film of all time in a single language. The spy thriller has collected over Rs 831 crore nett in India and has crossed Rs 1220 crore globally.
As the film’s numbers continue to climb, Manoj Desai, Executive Director of G7 Multiplex (Gaiety Galaxy) and Maratha Mandir Cinema, shared his candid views on Dhurandhar’s unprecedented success in an interview with Bollywood Hungama.
“As of today, it is number one. Collection-wise, Dhurandhar has clearly emerged as number one. Then there’s Salman’s film—his films always do well with me—so Sikandar has arrived too. But the simple truth is that right now, Dhurandhar is ahead of everyone.”
‘I haven’t been able to watch Dhurandhar yet,’ says Manoj Desai
Interestingly, despite overseeing theatres that have witnessed packed shows, Desai revealed he is yet to watch the film himself.
“You know the saying—if someone owns a shop that sells cream and milk, he can’t consume all the cream or drink all the milk himself. In the same way, I haven’t been able to watch Dhurandhar yet. I still have to see it. I haven’t seen it so far, but I will watch it now.”
Strong publicity and YouTube songs drove footfalls
Highlighting the film’s performance across key cinema halls, Desai credited aggressive promotion and music-driven buzz for pulling audiences to theatres.
“In our area, Dhurandhar has done the best business—whether it’s Maharana Mandir cinema or the G7 multiplex there, the film has worked wonders. They did extremely strong publicity. They also released a few songs on YouTube, and after seeing all that, the public came rushing to theatres.”
He further underlined the importance of marketing in today’s box office ecosystem.
“This is the power of advertising. Whoever is able to invest in this kind of promotion gets the returns. They did a lot of it, and especially
Akshaye Khanna’s song became very popular on YouTube.”
Manoj Desai on Akshaye Khanna increasing fees after success
Desai also weighed in on Akshaye Khanna’s career decisions following the success of Dhurandhar, offering a personal perspective.
“That said, after this, Akshaye ji increased his fees and he lost Drishyam 3, which I personally feel he shouldn’t have done. Whenever a star gets success—even if it’s from a three- or four-minute song—they should maintain a little calm afterward. That’s my personal thinking. Of course, he is his own master and can do what he wants.”
What Ranveer Singh can learn from Dhurandhar’s success
Speaking about the takeaway from Dhurandhar’s massive run, Desai said the film has firmly established Ranveer Singh as a top-tier star.
“What one can learn from this is that if you make a film like this, you become number one—you become the king. And that is happening now. You should practice that approach because with Dhurandhar, you have proven your talent. Even families have completely accepted this.”
He added that success should now be followed by careful choices.
“Since everything is going well, he should move forward accordingly. He should choose his next films carefully—look at the story, understand what his role is, what dialogues he’s getting, and think it through. This applies to every actor.”
Summing up the phenomenon, Desai concluded, “Right now, Dhurandhar has been outstanding. That’s why I’m talking about it—but the point applies to everyone: they should be very, very perfect in their working.”
Written and directed by Aditya Dhar of Uri: The Surgical Strike fame, Dhurandhar is a high-octane spy thriller headlined by Ranveer Singh. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun, R Madhavan and Rakesh Bedi, and continues to dominate theatres across India and overseas despite new releases. Overall 'Dhurandhar' is surely a magnificent success at the box office.