Ranbir Kapoor's 'Ramayana' Could Topple 'Dhurandhar 2' Box-Office Numbers, Say Exhibitors: ‘₹3,000 Crore May Be The New Benchmark’

Filmmaker Aditya Dhar's historic blockbuster Dhurandhar 2 might remain the highest-grossing film of the year, unless another big pan-India film lands the way makers are hoping it will: Ramayana.

Ranveer Singh-led Dhurandhar: The Revenge has already emerged as the biggest Hindi film of all time and is chasing the mighty global record of Aamir Khan's Dangal, which grossed ₹2000 crore thanks to a gigantic run in China, where it alone grossed over ₹1,300 crore.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge has managed to gross over 1,400 crore globally so far, without a release in China or the Gulf.

But the records could be reshuffled this Diwali, as Nitesh Tiwari, who also helmed Dangal, returns with the first instalment of Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sunny Deol and Sai Pallavi.

During the latest episode of THR Buzz, exhibitors Vishek Chauhan (CEO of Bihar-based Roopbani Cinemas) and Akkshay Rathie (Director, Ashirwad Theatres Pvt Ltd) spoke about the mammoth collections of Dhurandhar 2 and why the only film that could challenge it at the box office could be Ramayana.

"The sheer scale, the story, the present mood of the country, everything is going in its favour. And the only thing that needs to happen is that the film needs to deliver," said Chauhan, adding that the makers need to give the audiences a "correct experience" as anything about faith is a "difficult territory" to tread on.

"I cannot put a number to what the film could do, but if it is received well, maybe then we will do a podcast and to celebrate the new benchmark of ₹3,000 crores. Because that is the potential of the Hindi film industry," Chauhan added.

Rathie said the "architectural design" of the film, where a star from the Hindi cinema (Ranbir) will be seen with a star from the Kannada cinema (Yash) sets grounds for a massive box-office glory.

"Them coming together with a storyteller like Nitesh Tiwari and the whole infrastructure of DNEG, which has done some outstanding work not just for Indian cinema but for Hollywood as well, so it looks like the film has the potential to break the glass ceiling and create new benchmark," Rathie added.

The exhibitors recalled how Prabhas-led Adipurush, despite sub-par visual assets and severe pre-release trolling, opened to over ₹35 crore in Hindi.

"Now, if that is done properly with that kind of budget, which has never been seen before in the Hindi film industry of over ₹3,500 crores, we are going to see something extraordinary," Chauhan added.

The film is produced by Namit Malhotra's Prime Focus Studios and 8-time Oscar-winning VFX studio DNEG in association with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations.