Dhurandhar 2 Advance Booking Hits ₹130 Cr; Inside Ranveer Singh Starrer's Box Office Stakes

Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar 2 is already stirring excitement across cinemas ahead of its March 19 release. The Aditya Dhar-directed sequel is drawing huge attention, with early ticket sales signalling a strong start in both Indian and international markets.

The film’s release falls on festivals like Eid, Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, giving it a boost at the box office. This timing has paid off, as audience interest is already high even before the first full show begins.

Advance bookings for Dhurandhar 2 have already crossed ₹100 crore worldwide, with North America alone bringing in over $5 million even before release, setting a record for an Indian film.

Pre-sales from India and abroad have reached about ₹130 crore, almost equally split between the two. These strong early numbers have raised expectations that the sequel could beat the first film’s ₹1300 crore worldwide collection.

Dhurandhar 2 India Advance Booking

Domestic bookings are picking up ahead of release. On Sunday alone, the film sold around 1.5 lakh tickets for its opening day, adding roughly ₹7 crore to the total. Excluding block bookings, the net advance for day one currently stands at ₹14.42 crore.

The Hindi version leads ticket sales, with over 2.8 lakh seats booked. Special formats like IMAX and Dolby are also popular, but their figures are counted separately from the main total.

Regional versions are picking up pace too. The Telugu dubbed release has crossed 13,000 tickets, while Tamil has moved over 7,000 seats. Malayalam and Kannada versions remain slower, but the overall nationwide count has already crossed 3 lakh tickets for day one.

The film is expected to open at around ₹100 crore net domestic box office on day one, positioning it among the biggest openings in recent months.

Paid Previews Spark Frenzy

Paid previews have also added to the film’s strong start ahead of release. Early screenings have already generated around ₹20–22.5 crore, reflecting solid demand before regular shows begin.

These numbers are important as they add to the film’s opening momentum. With block bookings included, collections could go even higher.

In cities like Mumbai, tickets for these shows went up to ₹3100, yet fans lined up outside cinemas, showing the strong demand.

Combined with advance bookings, the film has already built strong collections before release. This stands out, especially for an Adults Only film, which usually sees limited reach.

Lifeline for a Sluggish Quarter

Dhurandhar 2 comes at a time when the theatrical business is in urgent need of momentum. The fourth quarter has been largely underwhelming for cinemas, with only a handful of releases which performed well at the box office like Border 2, which earned ₹3.3 billion and The Raja Saab, which grossed ₹1.4 billion.

But the sequel of Ranveer Singh starrer may become a "much-needed boost" for exhibitors. According to Elara Capital, the film may aid box office collections and occupancy in Q4 FY26. Strong advance bookings of around 1.2 million tickets and paid previews of ₹20–22.5 crore point to a solid opening trend.

"Led by strong footfalls , exhibitor occupancy may sustain at ~28% in Q4 E (in line with Q2 and Q3FY26) , resulting in c.26.7% occupancy for FY26 E , in line with estimates. Dhurandhar 2 may drive higher ATP in premium formats," the report read.

It further suggests that the film could earn around ₹1,100–1,300 crore over its full run. If achieved, it may become one of the highest-grossing Hindi films and could take the franchise’s total collections close to ₹2,000 crore, surpassing major titles like Baahubali (₹1,400 crore) and Pushpa (₹1,500 crore).

The sequel arrives just 3.5 months after the first film, benefiting from strong recall. Sequels typically perform 40–50% better due to higher awareness, and a similar trend is expected here. With Q4 remaining slow, the film could boost collections, improve theatre occupancy and carry momentum into the next quarter.

Why It Matters for PVR Inox?

For PVR Inox, the significance of Dhurandhar 2 lies as much in balance sheet recovery as in box office performance. Before the pandemic, the company delivered a healthy return on invested capital (ROIC) of around 19%, supporting strong valuations.

And this sharply deteriorated in the post-COVID period, with ROIC slipping to roughly 3-9% between FY23 and FY25, dragged down by weak occupancy and high leverage. However, there are early signs of improvement.

"As occupancy gradually recovers, ROIC is expected to climb to about 10–12% over the next two years, aided by ongoing deleveraging and the possibility of a net debt-free position. The company’s net debt, which stood at ₹3.6 billion as of December 2025, could fall by nearly 62% to around ₹1.4 billion following the 4700BC deal, strengthening its financial position," the report said.

Yet, a full return to pre-COVID profitability remains distant. A key drag continues to be advertising revenue, which is still about 30% below pre-pandemic levels as brands increasingly shift spends to digital platforms. Since ad income is a critical margin driver for multiplexes, its slow recovery is likely to cap overall ROIC expansion, even if occupancy improves.

But Dhurandhar 2 is expected to support box office collections and help sustain occupancy at around 28% in the fourth quarter, contributing to an estimated 26.5% occupancy for FY26. As the report notes, the film will largely “offset lacklustre box office performance so far” this quarter.

Hence, PVR Inox’s recovery remains contingent on consistency, not one-off blockbusters. While lower leverage, improving occupancy, and a stronger content pipeline could support double-digit ROIC by FY28, the pace of recovery will depend on sustained box office performance and a revival in advertising revenues.