Bollywood star Ranveer Singh has roared back to the big screen with a career-defining opening for his latest film, Dhurandhar. Released on Friday, December 5, the high-octane spy thriller directed by Aditya Dhar defied pre-release controversies and negative buzz to emerge as the actor’s biggest opening film to date, shattering previous records.
Box Office Triumph: Ranveer’s Career Best
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Dhurandhar collected a massive estimated ₹27 crore net on Day 1 in India.
Ranveer Singh’s Biggest Opener: The film surpassed the actor’s previous best opening day figures, including Padmaavat (₹24 crore, including paid previews) and Simmba (₹20.72 crore).
- Highest of the Year: The ₹27 crore collection makes Dhurandhar the second-highest Bollywood opener of 2025, beating Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda’s Saiyaara$ (₹21.50 crore) but falling just behind Vicky Kaushal’s Chhaava (₹31 crore).
Despite early trade predictions placing the film’s opening in the ₹15-20 crore range, the strong positive word-of-mouth and spot-bookings pushed the film far beyond expectations.
Occupancy and Audience Reaction
The film registered an overall Hindi occupancy of 33.81% on its opening day. This occupancy saw a dramatic increase as the day progressed, indicating strong audience pull:
- Morning Shows: 15.49%
- Night Shows: 55.90%
The massive Day 1 response has led several exhibitors in major metro cities, particularly Mumbai, to announce special 24-hour screenings to meet the soaring audience demand over the weekend.
Deepika Padukone’s Glowing Review
The film’s positive reception was echoed by Ranveer Singh’s wife, actress Deepika Padukone. Despite the film’s lengthy runtime of 3 hours and 34 minutes, which some social media users found exhausting, Deepika was all praise for the movie.
Taking to Instagram, she wrote, “Dhurandhar has been watched and is worth every minute of those 3.34 hours! So do yourselves a favour and get to a cinema hall NOW! So incredibly proud of you @ranveersingh. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew!”
The action-thriller boasts a strong ensemble cast that includes Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal, with the performances of Ranveer and Akshaye Khanna receiving particular acclaim from early reviewers.
Franchise Confirmed
The makers have already confirmed that the saga will continue, with the sequel, Dhurandhar 2 – Revenge, set to release in theaters on March 19, 2026.16 This means Dhurandhar has set the stage for a major cinematic franchise launch.