Bollywood Hungama was one of the first ones to break the news that Dhurandhar has been banned in the Gulf countries. The news went viral and became a major topic of discussion on the internet. Bollywood Hungama spoke to trade experts and industry insiders to understand how much the makers of Dhurandhar stand to lose due to no release in the UAE-GCC belt.
Rs. 50 cr. LOSS shocker: Dhurandhar’s biggest overseas setback revealed as trade decodes the UAE-GCC money it could’ve minted
A distributor based overseas explained to us, “Many feel that it could have done the business similar to that of Pathaan (2023) and Jawan (2023) in this territory. The former collected 14 million USD (approximately Rs. 116 crores, as per the then-current dollar rate) while the latter earned 17.81 million USD (approximately Rs. 148 crores, as per the then-current dollar rate) in the UAE-GCC. However, both the films had a major benefit as they were quite big, starred a global superstar like Shah Rukh Khan and had an appeal for the local residents as well as the South Indian diaspora residing in the region. Dhurandhar, meanwhile, has also become unstoppable, but due to the theme and also because Ranveer Singh is not as big as SRK, its business wouldn’t have been the same as Pathaan or Jawan. Hence, it could have collected 5 to 6 million USD (Rs. 44-53 crores approx.)”
A top producer talked to us on condition of anonymity and he also confirmed, “Roughly 30% of overseas business comes from the UAE-GCC. Until now, Dhurandhar has collected Rs. 151 crores from foreign markets. With a release in the Gulf, it would have earned 30% more, that is, around Rs. 45 crore or 50 crores.”
Suniel Wadhwa, co-founder and director at film production and distribution firm Karmic Films, went through historical data to arrive at a conclusion, “Animal had released in the first week of December 2023 and Pushpa 2 in the first week of December 2024. Animal collected 4.2 million USD in the UAE, which is equivalent to Rs. 36 crores if we can take the dollar rate of Rs. 83. Pushpa 2 in Hindi had earned around 3.5 million USD there. If we take a dollar rate of Rs. 86, that comes to around Rs. 30 crores.”
He continued, “Taking this data into account, since Dhurandhar was released in the first week of December and with the dollar rate being around Rs. 90 at present, we can safely say that it would have done around Rs. 45-50 crores in the UAE. GCC would have contributed 10% more, so the final figure comes to around Rs. 55 crores.”
However, Girish Johar, producer and eminent film business analyst, said, “UAE-GCC is a huge market and the way the film is performing overseas specifically, I am sure that at least Rs. 25-30 crore business could have been achieved from this belt.”
Trade veteran Taran Adarsh opined, “There’s a huge community of Asians out in that region, that is Indians as well as Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, though I don’t know if the latter would be open to watching this film. However, there will be a section of them who would be wanting to watch it, out of curiosity. Even the Arabs speak highly of Indian cinema and consume our films.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan remarked, “Hindi films get a lot of shows in the theatres in this region, leading to huge business. One can say that the business in the UAE GCC belt is less than in North America but higher than the UK.”
Taran Adarsh continued, “The sky’s the limit and you can’t put a number right now (on how much Dhurandhar lost out on due to the ban). Nevertheless, they have lost out on a chunk of business for sure. Having said that, this is not a new trend. This has happened in the past for films which they feel are against their guidelines, perhaps and are not allowed a release there.”
Taran Adarsh further said, “However, the remaining markets, be it the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, are behaving stupendously. The kind of appreciation pouring in from everywhere is unbelievable. These remaining markets are compensating for it.”
More Pages: Dhurandhar Box Office Collection , Dhurandhar Movie ReviewTags : Aditya Dhar, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Atul Mohan, B62 Studios, Dhurandhar, Features, Girish Johar, Jawan, Jio Studios, Jyoti Deshpande, Pathaan, R Madhavan, Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, Shah Rukh Khan, Suniel Wadhwa, Taran Adarsh
BOLLYWOOD NEWS – LIVE UPDATES
Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection, New Movies Release , Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood Live News Today & Upcoming Movies 2025 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.