Advance booking for paid previews of Dhurandhar: The Revenge started from yesterday. In the first 24 hours of sale, the film has sold over 175,000 tickets at the Indian box office, worth Rs. Approximately 8 crores nett. The strongest response has come from big centers like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, which have generally performed better than before. Smaller centers generally operate lower pre-sales, and this is even more so when it comes to unconventional previews and that too taking around two weeks to release. However, the film was successful in increasing sales there too and that in itself is surprising.
The two national chains (PVRINOX and Cinepolis) contributed more than 75 percent of the revenue by selling 125,000 tickets. This is not the first day of the film, but a preview. Still taking this as a given, sales in national chains come second only to Jawan’s 155,000 in the first 24 hours. Jawan also had sales for the rest of the weekend, while Dhurandhar only had preview sales. But then Jawan did it just five days before the release; Here, there were still eleven days left. The longer the pre-sales window, the less urgency there is, which makes the hype all the more impressive. This is not an apples-to-apples comparison; In fact, no comparison can be made, the figures are given only for reference.
Paid previews are already the second-highest gross ever for a Bollywood film, just behind Rs. Stree 2 earned Rs 8.75 crore. In the next few hours, the mark will be crossed, just a day and a few hours after the start of sales and more than ten days until the release. The film has already created a huge capacity for the first day, with over 6000 shows on sale. This number will probably exceed 8000 and may reach 10000. The daily capacity is already around Rs. 45 crore nett, and the final number increases to Rs. 60-70 crores nett. At a highly premium price, the film would basically be put on for a half-day showing. At this stage the film should cross the Rs crore mark. Net mark of Rs 30 crore, maybe Rs. Too. 40 crores nett.
Bookings for the remaining opening weekend have not yet opened. The strategy is to be the first to maximize previews, which are priced at premium rates, anywhere from 25 to 75 percent above standard prices, which vary from location to location. There is substantial demand for these premium-priced shows, as evidenced by pre-sales. Sales planning for the rest of the weekend may begin sometime on weekdays, if not today. It is expected that this film will break all pre-sale records and set new standards.
