After the huge success of ‘Dhurandhar’, fans are now waiting with baited breath for the release of the sequel, ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, directed by Aditya Dhar. While one anticipated the second installment to have a big opening day number, the advance ticket sales and the pre-release numbers already are creating history. As per reports, more than a million tickets are sold already in the advance bookings, and many theatres are having extra shows for the film. There are also some post midnight shows. The film’s nearly four-hour runtime has made scheduling tricky for exhibitors, as most theatres can fit only four shows per screen in a day. According to sources quoted by Hindustan Times, multiplex chains are allocating roughly four hours and forty minutes per screening, factoring in trailers, an interval, and the time needed to prepare the auditorium for the next show. Due to the rising demand, several theatres have started adding post-midnight screenings—something rarely seen for Indian releases.In the Mumbai and Thane regions, cinemas such as PVR Chakala and MovieMax Sion have weekend shows beginning as early as 1:50 AM and continuing until around 11:30 PM across multiple screens. Similarly, MovieMax Thane and Connplex Cinemas have also started scheduling post-midnight screenings starting Thursday itself. While such arrangements may not be feasible everywhere because of safety and operational concerns, reports suggest that several theatres across western and southern India are preparing to introduce late-night shows over the next day.The film’s impact can be seen at Mumbai’s iconic Maratha Mandir. The theatre has famously been screening ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ daily for three decades, traditionally at the 11:30 AM slot. However, to adjust for Dhurandhar 2’s extended runtime, the long-running classic has been shifted to an earlier morning showtime. Maratha Mandir had done that earlier during the release of ‘Pushpa 2’ and ETimes had spoken to Manoj Desai, Gaeity Galaxy and Maratha Mandir owner that time. With this buzz, ‘Dhurandhar 2’ has easily crossed the advance booking record of Rs 25 crore which was previously held by Pawan Kalyan’s ‘OG’. The film has already crossed Rs 35 crore. Meanwhile, as far as the global box office is concerned, it has become the first Indian film to cross USD 5 million in pre-sales in North America, with its global advance booking collections now surpassing Rs 125 crore.
