Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Filmmaker Kunal Kohli has revealed that many in the film industry expected Dhurandhar: The Revenge to fail at the box office. Speaking to Screen, Kohli said that even some of the biggest directors predicted the film would lose steam after its opening weekend. Contrary to these expectations, the Aditya Dhar directorial gained momentum from Monday onwards.
The Ranveer Singh-starrer opened with an impressive Rs 102.55 crore on Thursday, following preview shows on Wednesday. It then went on to collect a record Rs 65 crore on its first Monday, establishing itself as a major box office success within its first week.
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Kohli explained, “Even when the industry doesn’t support a film, the film still works. Nobody supported Dhurandhar. The biggest directors I spoke to said, ‘Monday ko baith jayegi.’ Monday ko aur chal gayi.”
The director also highlighted a similar situation with Anurag Singh’s period war drama Border 2, starring Sunny Deol. Despite industry doubts and expectations of failure, the film performed exceptionally well, grossing over Rs 300 crore. Kohli said, “Nobody supported Border 2. People said second week mei thoda baith gayi. It’s done Rs 300 crore plus. What are you saying! That’s a blockbuster. End of discussion. It doesn’t matter if the industry supports you or not.”
Kohli recalled his own experience with Hum Tum (2004), which also lacked support from fellow filmmakers but succeeded commercially and became a notable romantic comedy. He shared how producer Aditya Chopra had advised him not to attend the preview show because industry insiders were unlikely to appreciate the film. Kohli went anyway and found the reaction disappointing. “I was so depressed I called up Adi. He said, ‘I asked you to not go because I know it’s not their type of film.’ So, 99 per cent of the people in the industry don’t want you to succeed,” he said.
When Hum Tum was rejected by the industry
Despite this, Hum Tum gradually gained acceptance. Kohli recalled, “On Monday at 1 pm, Adi, I, and Rani were sitting in the office, still wondering if it was going to drop or hold on Monday. Mr Rakesh Roshan called me and said, ‘Kunal, your film is houseful in the 12:30 pm show on Monday in Indore! The biggest of big films fail to do that. Congratulations, your film is a big hit.'”
Kohli praised Rakesh Roshan for personally calling to congratulate him, despite Kohli’s debut film Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002) not performing well. “He could’ve called up Yash ji, Adi, or Saif, but he called me, the filmmaker. There are one or two out of 100 people like that, but thankfully there are those one or two,” Kohli said with a laugh.
Addressing whether the film industry’s support is genuine or transactional, Kohli remarked, “There’s very little scratch my back. Because if you let someone scratch your back, they’d probably stab you in the back,” laughing.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge continues its theatrical run and has entered its fourth week at the box office. The film has grossed Rs 1,718.62 crore globally, with a domestic nett of Rs 1,088.62 crore.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
