Dhurandhar mints ₹3000 crore: How Aditya Dhar built India's biggest franchise, beat YRF Spy Universe with just 2 films

THe ii Dhurandhar films from Aditya Dhar feature been goose egg unawares of genre-defining. The sight thrillers, released just three months apart, have changed the rules of Bollywood box-office collections. Earlier this week, as Dhirandhar: The Revenge crossed ₹1700 crore worldwide, the two films collectively crossed ₹3000 crore as a franchise. This made it only the second film franchise in Indian cinema history to breach the mark. By next week, the Dhurandhar films are expected to take the top spot, displacing the YRF Spy Universe. It is no mean feat for a two-film franchise to topple a six-film-strong cinematic universe, filled with over half a dozen big stars.Dhurandhar films cross ₹3000 crore at the box officeReleased in December, the first Dhurandhar film, starring Ranveer Singh, was a critical and commercial success. It collected a then-record ₹841 crore net in India, and courtesy of a $33 million overseas haul, crossed ₹1300 crore gross worldwide. After a rather long run in theatres that lasted over 14 weeks, Dhurandhar ended its run at ₹1308 crore. The film’s makers claimed it was over ₹1350 crore.The sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, arrived in March and shattered every Bollywood box-office record. The film became the first from Hindi cinema to net ₹100 crore in a single day, a feat it achieved three times during its opening weekend. It sailed past ₹1000 crore in a week and soon surpassed its predecessor. As of April 16, Dhurandhar 2 has earned just over ₹1025 crore net in India and ₹1720 crore worldwide. The makers claim the worldwide gross exceeds ₹1760 crore. Either way, the Dhurandhar franchise has crossed ₹3000 crore worldwide, with the upper estimate at ₹3110 crore for the two films. Dhurandhar beats Baahubali, PushpaFor the longest time, Baahubali was the highest-grossing film franchise from India. The two films - released in 2015 and 2017 - collectively earned over ₹2400 crore. Allu Arjun’s Pushpa films came close when they collected ₹2100 crore combined, but failed to displace SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus from the top. Dhurandhar did that with relative ease. It became the highest-grossing Indian film series in just a week of the sequel’s release. The only franchise ahead of it is a universe that includes multiple series.How Dhurandhar managed to upstage the YRF Spy UniverseYash Raj Films’ YRF Spy Universe was built retroactively. Salman Khan’s Tiger films arrived first. When Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff’s War released in 2019, it was still separate from the Tiger films. But it was Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan that tied the world together with cameos and Easter eggs. Belatedly, a universe was born. The success of Pathaan and War made it a formidable franchise, even as Tiger 3 did not do the kind of numbers it was meant to. Yet, by 2023, the franchise had overtaken Baahubali. But the box-office debacle of War 2 and the frequent delays in the release of Alpha have stalled the YRF Spy Universe now. The franchise has a worldwide gross of just over ₹3100 crore, spread across six films. Dhurandhar has reached there in four films fewer. With Alpha, the franchise’s first female-led spy thriller, slated for release later this year, YRF Spy Universe may reclaim its throne, but the lead won’t be formidable. Given that the industry is buzzing with rumours that a planned Tiger vs Pathaan movie may not be happening, YRF Spy Universe may never get a chance to consolidate on that.All about DhurandharWritten and directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar is a spy thriller starring Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy infiltrating the gangs and terror networks of Pakistan. The films also star R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun. The first part was critically acclaimed, while the second received more lukewarm reviews. However, both are the two highest-grossing Hindi films in India. The films’ music and background scores have also earned praise.