DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE smashed all records on its third day as the Eid holiday saw box office carnage everywhere. The film collected an insane 97 crore nett which is 20 crore nett more than anything that has been seen before. The film got going in languages in full in the South also and including them it is a comfortable 100 crore nett plus as the collections from languages should be around 5-6 crore nett. If you include the Hindi version then the film was doing better in Nizam/Andhra than the local big Telugu release, USTAAD BHAGAT SINGH, on Saturday.

The total collections of the film are 284 crore nett including paid previews in its Hindi version and there is still Sunday to come. It was the Eid national holiday on Saturday but Eid plays out over a couple of days and with the second day of Eid coming on Sunday, it will be more box office carnage. It will be no surprise if the film gets a similar collection to Saturday and the way this film is going, even more would be no surprise. There were areas that went into top gear yesterday only and that will continue on Sunday.

When a film works like it can go anywhere and even with these historic collections initially, you can see holds over time which would be unthinkable for a film opening at these levels. The collections are just historic everywhere as Mumbai will cross 100 crore nett today while Delhi/UP is around 60 crore nett. East Punjab stands at around 27 crore nett. These three circuits will be contributing over 200 crore nett by the end of this extended weekend. South India is also historic with Mysore at 25 crore nett and Nizam/Andhra at around 22 crore nett. The wait is now for the weekdays as the rampage will continue.

It would be no surprise that it covers the lifetime business of all original Hindi films in its extended first week except for DHURANDHAR (2025). The story of this film started on 5th December 2025 when someone in the camp had little confidence and there was good amount of feeding and now a few months later the second part of the film going to puts its name among the 15 odd greatest films ever seen in history.

The collections of DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE are as follows.

Paid Previews - 40,00,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 75,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 72,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 97,00,00,000 apprx

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DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE has smashed all weekend records by a distant mile as it beats PUSHPA 2 - THE RULE by 63 crore nett and JAWAN by 70 crore nett. Before DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE, there were around 20 films which had recorded a 100 crore nett weekend and DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE has become the first film to have a 200 crore nett weekend. Also, its not just 200 crore nett but almost 250 crore nett.

Now DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE stands alone at over 200 crore nett and you have another four films in the 150-200 crore nett range and a further sixteen films with over 100 crore nett making its twenty one films with a 100 crore nett plus weekend.

Actually there is not much to say as the list below pretty much tells how DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE is a class apart at the present time. Even if we allow that PUSHPA 2 - THE RULE had a minimal South release, it would still well be behind DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE as at best the Allu Arjun starrer is 200 crore nett on fair value. The last year or so has been a struggle for initials as only CHHAAVA, BORDER 2 and now DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE make it to the list.

Below are the top weekends of all time for Hindi films.

2. Pushpa 2 - The Rule - 1,81,72,00,000 

3. Jawan - 1,75,14,00,000 

4. Animal - 1,68,59,00,000

5. Pathaan - 1,60,57,00,000

6. KGF - Chapter 2 - 1,40,45,00,000

7. Tiger 3 - 1,38,56,00,000

8. Gadar 2 - 1,32,47,00,000

9. Stree 2 - 1,28,31,00,000

10. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion - 1,27,28,00,000

11. Sanju - 1,19,33,00,000

12. Border 2 - 1,16,85,00,000

13. Tiger Zinda Hai - 1,14,91,00,000

14. Singham Again - 1,12,57,00,000

15. Chhaava - 1,08,37,00,000

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DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE has collected a crazy $16.75 million in overseas with Sunday to come and this is all coming without Gulf. The extended weekend is going to be around $22 million at the very least and if Gulf was there, it was probably heading towards $30 million. The normal three day weekend is going to be around $17 million which will be higher than PATHAAN but that came with a $4 million Gulf contribution. Like for like comparison is $12 million v $17 million.

Just like India, there were records everywhere in Overseas on Saturday as United Kingdom hit £650k which is the highest single day collection ever by a distance and it was the same for US, Canada and Australia. Australia hit $1 million in a single day for the first time and US/Canada saw a crazy $3.5 million figure.

The worldwide figure is 500 crore for the Hindi version till the end of business on Saturday. India has a GROSS of 345 crore while Overseas stands at 155 crore. The traditional three day weekend is around 405 crore plus taking apast the 340 crore of JAWAN. Hence, it will be the first 400 crore weekend worldwide. The 300 crore weekends were achieved by JAWAN, PATHAAN and ANIMAL.

The daily Overseas collections are as follows.

Previews - $1,250,000

Thursday - $4,250,000

Friday - $5,000,000

Saturday - $6,250,000

Expectedly, ‘Dhurandhar The Revenge’ has taken the box office by storm. By the evening of March 22, the Ranveer Singh-starrer collected about Rs 440 crore, including its paid previews, in the domestic market. The film’s run is far from done. According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, director Aditya Dhar’s action drama could cross the Rs. 1000 crore mark in domestic collections.

“Like the first part, ‘Dhurandhar 2’ has come like a tsunami. I am confident it will cross Rs 1000 crore in the domestic market. Many theatres are facing capacity issues where there are more people to watch the film [than shows]. The demand will spill over to Monday,” Adarsh told mid-day.

Given its unstoppable run, trade is buzzing with speculation that the movie could beat the worldwide collection of Aamir Khan’s ‘Dangal’ (2016) to become the biggest grosser of Indian cinema. “It cannot be ruled out right now,” said Adarsh.

However, sections of the audience have criticized the movie’s propagandist nature. Some also felt that it ran too long at three-hour-55-minutes.

About the polarizing reactions, exhibitor and trade analyst Akshaye Rathi said, “Whether it’s ‘Dhurandhar’, ‘Animal’ [2023], or ‘The Kashmir Files’ [2022], they wouldn’t have done that kind of business had those polarizing opinions not come into play. The more [the opinions are] polarized, the more it creates a debate and generates curiosity among people to see what the hype is all about.”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be flooding the internet with infinite songs and cloned voices, but musician AR Rahman is approaching it from the inside. In July 2025, the composer announced that he is joining forces with Sam Altman’s OpenAI to create Secret Mountain, a virtual global band driven by AI. Even as he explores the possibilities of the rapidly advancing technology, Rahman is clear about one aspect.

“Anything on social media could be AI — songs, voices, everything. But what it cannot give you is the human experience,” he told mid-day at a Yamaha event in Chennai on March 22.

Many artistes around the world are worried about the threats that AI poses and have taken measures to protect their creative identity. The musician, however, is confident that an artiste’s emotional depth will be their biggest advantage.

He elaborated, “When everything becomes mass-produced, you start losing that emotional depth. I think the value of human experience will only grow. People will seek authenticity again. Look how the demand for concerts and live performances is blowing up. That’s something you can’t fake. The key is to not lose that individuality.”

At the event, Rahman was signed on as the ambassador for the brand, whose ‘Made In India’ initiative supports the talents at the maestro’s school, KM Music Conservatory.

Opening up about his school, he shared, “When my father passed away in 1976, we would rent out his instruments to make ends meet. There was a time when I couldn’t afford instruments. Today, I try to give opportunities to others in a similar position. My idea is to build a creative hub in India because art is the only thing that can heal you.”

At a time when even strong films are struggling to pull audiences to theatres, actor Adarsh Gourav acknowledges the reality without sugarcoating it. His last film, Tu Yaa Main, released in Febraury, may not have delivered at the box office, but he refuses to measure its value by numbers alone.

“It’s one of the metrics of success, but it’s not everything. Of course, it feels nice when a film makes money because very few films now make money; it’s a rare thing,” he says, acknowledging the tough theatrical climate.

Gourav believes the bigger shift lies in evolving audience behaviour: “People had lesser options earlier, and now they have many more. There is a huge shift in theatrical viewing. Audience’s relationship with theatres has completely changed.”

With audiences gravitating towards spectacle-driven films like Dhurandhar (2025), Border 2 and Animal (2023), he notes that smaller films face an uphill battle.

“It’s not that audiences have stopped going to theatres, it’s just that they have a lot more options now. You have to give them stronger reasons to step out. Today, some films receive massive screen counts and visibility, making it even more challenging for smaller films. If they aren’t given a chance, makers will stop experimenting.”

Despite the uncertainty, the 31-year-old remains grounded in his choices. “I don’t feel pressured to chase bigger, more commercial films just because of box office numbers. What matters to me is the quality of work and the roles I’m doing,” he says, adding, “Twenty years from now, I want people to go back and watch my films for what they are… because what’s the point if nobody remembers them?”

Ahead of his Canada tour later this month, singer-actor Gurdas Maan returned to the stage with a performance in Mumbai on Saturday, calling it part of the ever-evolving “mitti aur maya ka khel”: “Punjab ki mitti ki khushboo Mumbai ki emaaraton mein humesha se khilti aayi hai.”

Often described as a pioneer of modern Punjabi music, Maan weighs in on the its rapid global evolution, now dominated by hip-hop and trap: “Through each season, trees look different. They adapt to the changing seasons, but the essence of the tree never changes. Similarly, the essence of Punjab is rooted in its stories, and not how those stories are delivered.”

Speaking about the growing noise of social media and the recent rise of ‘cancel culture’, he shares, “We must not take everything we see on social media to heart. People have always had thoughts and opinions, but today they have a platform to put them out. Having faith in the divine force has always protected me.”

Actor Sudha Chandran recently took to Instagram to share a video of herself stuck in traffic in Mumbai’s Madh Island, voicing her frustration over the poor state of roads in the city she was born and lives in.

Speaking to us, she says, “You wake up charged up to work, but due to the traffic, bad roads and mismanagement, you get so tired and annoyed by the time you reach on set. It deteriorates our physical health too.”

The 60-year-old adds that the worsening conditions are now directly impacting her work. “As an actor, I never come late on set. But nowadays, due to the state of the roads, at times, I reach 45 minutes late. The work gets delayed, it causes a monetary loss and the stress also builds on your mind,” she shares.

She further points out the lack of traffic regulation despite ongoing construction: “There is no officer deputed to regulate the traffic. Nowadays, I don’t ask about my role but the shoot location while choosing work.”

While Sudha acknowledges the need for development, she stresses that it must not come at the cost of people’s livelihoods. “It’s a vicious circle, and all of us need to raise our voices. There is a limit to how much your patience can be tested. It’s time to wake up. I understand that development is important, but regulation is equally important,” she ends.

Six years after her turn in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), Tabu returns to South cinema with filmmaker Puri Jagannadh’s upcoming action thriller, Slumdog – 33 Temple Road. The pan-India feature, which also stars Vijay Sethupathi and Samyuktha in primary roles, is currently in post-production and will release later this year.

Smitten by the calibre and “confidence” of her co-stars, Samyuktha, who has been observing them on set, shares, “They walk and perform with an ease, and have an effortless way of handling things.”

For Tabu, the project is akin to coming home, as the Bollywood star hails from Hyderabad. Samyuktha shares her excitement about hearing Tabu converse with the cast and crew in Telugu. The actor says her co-star made her feel included, despite it being their first collaboration.

“She is a Hyderabad girl! Being the least experienced person there, I would listen to Zarina [Wahab] ma’am and Tabu ma’am talk in Telugu. I heard so many stories from them. I felt very included. There wasn’t any vibe of ‘You need to be away from us because we’re talking.’ I always felt a sense of inclusivity, which I loved.”

It takes years to move from paper to screen. For Amol Parashar’s The Bureaucrat, the wait from first hearing the script to going on floors stretched to about two years. “A filmmaker friend, who had read the story, suggested I do the show. He introduced me to Abhishek [Dhandharia, producer], but logistical issues kept delaying it,” shares the actor. Dhandharia reconnected with him six months ago when it was finally greenlit.

The idea of a civil services aspirant-turned-conman was too tempting for Parashar. “Shiddat se likhi hui cheezein, thode kam aate hain,” smiles the actor, adding that the pieces of the story fit well on paper, which got him “excited about the character.”

Aware that there is no dearth of stories centred around the UPSC — Aspirants, now in its third season, and Vikrant Massey’s 12th Fail (2023) — Parashar is confident his show stands apart, as it uses civil services only as a backdrop.

“UPSC [Union Public Service Commission] is a big part of our culture. The Bureaucrat is different from 12th Fail or Aspirants. Although the backdrop is UPSC, the texture, genre, and flow of events is fresh. It’s more of a conman story,” he says, adding that the shoot will wrap up in 20 days.

Amol Parashar confirms he wrapped up ‘Gram Chikitsalay 2’ before starting work on ‘The Bureaucrat’. “We shot in Madhya Pradesh this time. For season one, we shot in Chhattisgarh. We have onboarded a new director.”

Amid tensions in West Asia that have led many to reconsider travel plans, Ram Kapoor is preparing to return to Dubai next week to complete pending work. The actor had travelled to the city with his wife, Gautami, two weeks ago but cut the trip short as the situation escalated.

He says, “Last time, we were there for about a week. I thought I would come back to Mumbai and wait for things to calm down before starting again. But now I don’t have a choice. My work is still pending, and the situation does not seem likely to resolve anytime soon and appears to be escalating. It could continue for months, or even longer. If that is the case, I cannot delay any further. I will have to go and complete the timelines I had planned, despite the situation.”

The urgency, he explains, is tied to strict timelines. He shares, “There is work underway at my home in the Burj Khalifa. We received the necessary permissions and have a fixed timeframe within which it needs to be completed, but everything has now come to a standstill. I could request an extension, but we don’t know how long this situation will last. So the idea is to continue with the work and try to finish it as per the original plan. People I know in Dubai are continuing with their lives as much as possible. It’s not an ideal situation, but I am not panicking.”

This time, Gautami will not be travelling with him. He says, “I’m going alone. I am flying on Tuesday after finishing a few things here. I expect to be there for a couple of weeks this time.”

While there are concerns at home, his family understands the situation. He shares, “My children are a lot like me. Even if they panic initially, once I speak to them, they calm down. In fact, they end up reassuring their mother. Gautami does worry, but she understands that this is important and that I can’t miss the time frame.”

He also points to the safety measures in place. “Dubai is very well organised and capable of ensuring safety. Even where my house is, it is one of the most protected buildings in the country, which is something I have explained to Gautami,” he concludes.

The India release of The Voice Of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated Tunisian film centred on the death of a young girl during the Gaza conflict, has been put on hold after it failed to secure certification from the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification), according to its distributor.

The film’s Mumbai-based distributor Manoj Nandwana, told Variety that the film has been verbally rejected by the CBFC. Nandwana said he had submitted the film to the board in February, aiming for a mid-March release ahead of Oscars, but it has not been cleared, and he was told by a CBFC member that “if it gets released it would break up the India-Israel relationship.”

He said, “I told them: the India-Israel relationship is so strong that it’s idiotic to think this movie will break it.”

The Voice Of Hind Rajab is about a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza City in 2024. The critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated 2025 docudrama by Kaouther Ben Hania that tells the story of a young Palestinian girl trapped in a car under Israeli military fire in Gaza, blending real recordings with scripted performances. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival to over 20 minutes of applause, won the Silver Lion, and was later screened at the UN Headquarters in New York during the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.

When a film is submitted to the CBFC, the Examining Committee members watch it and suggest cuts to the producer or distributor. If the producer does not agree with the cuts, they can appeal to the Revising Committee.

In the case of films like Jana Nayagan and Emergency, producers moved the CBFC Revising Committee. However, in this case, it was the CBFC that referred the film to the revising committee itself. The distributor was told that he would be notified later about when the film would be screened by the Revising Committee.

Manoj Nandwana explains, “I have not submitted the film to the revising committee. I received a letter 10 days back from the CBFC stating that the film has been referred to the Revising Committee. Once the revising committee is formed, they will watch the film and take a decision. Only then will we know the film’s release status. The current status of the film on the website shows that the film’s certification is ‘pending for revising committee formation.’”

The CBFC is expected to certify films within a 48-day window. The CBFC did not comment till the time of going to press.

Manoj Nandwana told us, “The Voice Of Hind Rajab was submitted to the CBFC for certification in late January, ahead of a planned release before the March 16 Oscars. CBFC members did not clear the film and pointed out that, at one point, a character says, ‘f**k the army.’ They said, how can you use the F-word for the army – it has to be removed. There is no violence or anything objectionable in the film, so they didn’t suggest any cuts. They just told me that this is a very sensitive film. India and Israel have very good relations at present, and this film, if released theatrically in the country, will harm India-Israel relations.”

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It is strange, almost jarring, that a film about the devastation of Gaza has found ways to be screened in Israel itself, and yet, in India, it has not secured clearance. Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, The Voice Of Hind Rajab reconstructs the true story of Hind Rajab, a young girl fleeing Gaza City with her family in January 2024. Their car, however, came under fire from Israeli forces. The film unfolds from the perspective of Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers, who remain on call with Rajab as she tells them, in fear, that her cousins are already dead, and pleads with them not to leave her alone.

The docudrama is anchored by Rajab’s real voice recordings from her final moments. She was never rescued. Twelve days later, her body was discovered alongside her relatives and the two volunteers who had tried to reach her.

For India distributor Manoj Nandwana, the effort to bring the Oscar-nominated film to Indian audiences has been cumbersome. “The Voice Of Hind Rajab is not banned in Israel. Their courts tossed out the efforts to ban films. We went to the Board [Central Board of Film Certification, CBFC] on February 27, where it was viewed by five people. They said it needs to go to the revising committee,” he explains, adding, “They feel the film could sever Indo-Israel relations and is [too] sensitive.”

The film was scheduled to release on March 6, but that date has now been pushed. “But they’re not saying no.”

According to Nandwana, the Board did not return with a list of cuts or a formal objection, but instead left the film in limbo. “They feel the film is against Israel, but it’s not. It’s anti-war. It’s about saving a child. There’s no issue like violence, nudity, and direct political instruction either,” he says. The delay has resulted in a “complete loss for me”.

“I felt it had the legs to fare well. Usually, docudramas don’t do as well, but a lot was going for the film — its theme, the accolades. In India, we didn’t get permission for any festival either. The film has now gone to revising committee but no screening date has been given so far.”

‘The Voice Of Hind Rajab’ holds the record for the longest standing ovation in the history of the Venice Film Festival (23 minutes and 50 seconds).