Despite emerging as the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time, the Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar could have achieved a significantly higher commercial peak had it targeted the South Indian markets with a localized release strategy. In a recent interaction with Variety India, actor Allu Sirish, who is now actively involved in his father Allu Aravind’s production house, highlighted the missed revenue potential caused by the lack of a Telugu-dubbed version for the first installment.
Reflecting on the theatrical run of Dhurandhar and Chhaava, Sirish noted that while both films were well-received, they lacked the proactive pan-India approach seen with Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal. He explained that while the Hindi audience has consistently endorsed Telugu cinema, the South Indian audience is equally receptive to Hindi content, provided it is made accessible. Sirish pointed out that for Chhaava, a Telugu release was only initiated a month after its original debut following a conversation between his father and the producers, by which time the film had already lost its initial momentum.
The actor emphasized that Hindi studios should look toward the playbook established by films like Jawan and Animal to maximize their box office footprint. According to trade data cited by Sirish, South India’s contribution to an all-India net collection typically ranges between 15% and 18%. However, for a film like Jawan, which was aggressively marketed and dubbed in regional languages, that contribution surged to between 28% and 31%. He argued that the absence of a Telugu dub for Dhurandhar was a significant oversight in terms of both reaching new eyeballs and increasing the film’s overall business.
Sirish further dismissed the idea of regional bias, characterizing it as internet noise and stating that modern audiences are primarily concerned with the quality of content rather than its language of origin. He urged Hindi filmmakers to treat regional releases as a core strategy rather than a secondary activity, noting that the success of the Telugu version of Animal proved there is a sizable market ready for Hindi content when delivered appropriately.
Correcting the strategy for the upcoming sequel, the makers of Dhurandhar: The Revenge have reportedly confirmed a full-scale pan-India release. Unlike the first part, the sequel will debut in multiple dubbed languages, including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam. This shift in distribution is expected to significantly bolster the film’s opening weekend figures in the Southern territories when it hits screens on March 19, 2026.
