Decoding Economics of Dhurandhar: Ranveer Singh film generates 300 crore profits

Dhurandhar has more or less exhausted its box office run. The Ranveer Singh starrer has collected Rs. 786.50 crore nett approx in India and USD 30.10 million (Rs. 271 crore) from overseas markets. That gives it a worldwide box office gross of Rs. 1215 crore approx. It will probably add another crore or two to its tally. Dhurandhar is the highest-grossing Bollywood/Hindi film of all time, excluding China. 

On the recovery front, the film has generated nearly Rs. 600 crore, placing it among the highest recoveries ever for a Bollywood film. Only Jawan and Pathaan are ahead, both of which had higher recoveries from non-theatrical rights and overseas share. The film will be netting around Rs. 300 crore in profits, which is one of the highest ever in industry history. 

Dhurandhar, now a duology, was originally a very expensive single film, costing around Rs. 400 crore. The decision was taken to split the film into two, just days/weeks before the release and what a decision that has turned out to be. The intent was to extract incremental value from non-theatrical streams while allowing the theatrical to be monetised twice. Even then, the film was a very risky proposition, and the best it was hoping for was to break even and maybe get some profits.

While the costs are among the highest ever for a Bollywood film, the non-theatrical revenue is relatively a lot lower compared to what the biggest films get, which also goes on to show the positioning of the film was pre-release. Even in the theatrical revenue, although the film has grossed around Rs. 950 crore in India, the distributor share is just Rs. 335 crore. This is because a substantial portion of the business came after the first two weeks, when share terms drop sharply. Under normal circumstances, a film collecting Rs. 788 crore nett would be expected to yield a distributor share of Rs. 390-400 crore, which means Dhurandhar missed on Rs. 50 crore approx.

That all is going to change for Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which already is getting record deals for non-theatrical rights, whether it is by selling to an outside entity or through in-house valuation. It will also be a lot more front-heavy in the theatrical run, which would mean a higher share. The recoveries for sequel should go on to beat Jawan and set new benchmarks for the industry.

The Economics of Dhurandhar are as follows:

NOTE:

1. The Cost of Production of Rs. 400 crore is divided evenly between the two films.
2. P&A includes an estimated amount for the feeding, which was undertaken in the first week.