About to turn 24 on the big screen, Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge, directed by Ranveer Singh, will hit screens in India this summer after smashing record numbers at the box office.
It was the Indian box office smash of the year as well, led by Aditya Dhar, with a gross of more than Rs 1,700 crore and was crowned "India's best Indian blockbusters." Not only was it a box office hit, but it also initiated a national conversation with its patriotic action sequences. It was a hit so successful that even the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, praised the film publicly.
Those who will be able to savour the glitz in film are now getting the movie as they can now see it online from May 15. Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge will also be aired on JioHotstar and Netflix alongside the film, reports said. Notably, the OTT version is a touch surprising for the audience.
More original footage has made its way into the digital release, and local press releases have been added. The OTT is said to provide nearly three minutes of previously unreleased moments, giving fans an extra three minutes of watchable movies, according to sources. The subtitle to the OTT version of the film states “Raw and Undekha,” perhaps suggesting that viewers need to wait for a bigger and quicker action thriller that has all the twists and turns.
While international audiences presumably see the movie mostly on streaming service Netflix, reports indicate that Indian viewers will view the film on JioHotstar in Hindi and other domestic languages popular with the local audience. The joint debut of the two largest streaming tech platforms has received plenty of buzz in the entertainment sector, with both coming out on the same platforms.
Indian big films like RRR have attempted to use multi-platform streaming in the past, but do not offer similar multi-platform services for Bollywood movies. The first half of the trilogy was only accessible on Netflix when it made a risk with Dhurandhar: The Revenge.
But given its great showtime success, it’s clear that the two makers have embraced a much wider digital distribution plan for the sequel. The Dhurandhar franchise is set in Pakistan and centres upon a shadowy Indian operative who deploys to combat terror networks seeking the nation’s security. It works for its audiences by way of emotional storytelling, military setting, plot suspense, and big action sequences.
And with its strong supporting cast, based on Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, and Sanjay Dutt as major actors, Ranveer Singh has also done much better. Aditya Dhar's military/patriotic drama, once again, received all the right kind of kudos for melding action and emotional storytelling. Both film critics and fans lauded the film’s gripping script, epic scale and performances and its explosive box office performance.
OTT was officially released, and fan hype, as well, is revived on social media. The addition of footage not featured in the theatrical release is an especially exciting development for the viewing audiences who have little to lose. With a relatively large fan base, Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge can easily be one of the most popular Indian films on the OTT calendar this year, after all of its ticket sales left the window on record rates.
