The runtime of Dhurandhar: The Revenge has become a major talking point even before the film’s release. Directed by Aditya Dhar, the sequel runs for 3 hours and 55 minutes (235 minutes), making it one of the longest mainstream Hindi releases in recent times. While some fans are praising the ambitious scale, the film’s length has also raised concerns within the exhibition sector.
It is believed that the nearly four-hour runtime could create a show-count crunch in theatres. A typical 150-minute blockbuster typically allows around five to six shows per screen per day. However, with a runtime close to four hours and additional time needed for trailers, ads, interval breaks and theatre cleaning, exhibitors may only be able to schedule about three to four daily showings for the film. This reduction directly affects the number of tickets that can be sold.
Compared to a shorter film, the potential ticket-selling window could shrink by nearly 30 per cent. To match or exceed the opening numbers of the first film, the sequel would need extremely high occupancy across all shows.
There are also talks about interval fatigue. If the pacing slows down in the second half, particularly during the film’s reportedly detailed geopolitical storyline, early word of mouth could impact the weekend collections.
Supporters of the film point to the success of Animal, which had a runtime of over three hours and still performed strongly at the box office. However, critics argue that the film relied heavily on intense drama and spectacle. Whether a slower, tactical spy thriller can maintain audience engagement for nearly four hours remains to be seen.
Veteran trade analyst Taran Adarsh is of the view that the high runtime won’t be a problem when it comes to getting a good number of shows. “I am sure they are starting on Thursday early morning with late shows and spreading across all properties at one go,” he said. “So that will be compensating for the runtime. I don’t think the runtime is a deterrent. If there was a Toxic or another film released alongside it, the screens would have been divided. But now it’s a cakewalk for Dhurandhar 2 completely.”
Exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi echoes the same sentiment. “Every cinema that has the potential to attract audience that wants to see Dhurandhar 2 will play that film. The kind of capacity we are creating in terms of the number of seats for Dhurandhar 2 from day one is huge in itself. The number that matters is not the capacity we create but the occupancy we generate. Even given the long duration of the film, which is 3 hours and 55 minutes, it will have enough shows and enough screens all over the country to satiate the demand for the film on every day of its run at the box office.”
He also shared examples of other films of the recent past that had a longer runtime. “We have seen multiple films that are above three hours and have done well, like Jawan, Pathaan, Animal, Gadar 2, Stree, Pushpa, Dhurandhar 1, etc. All of them have done exceedingly well,” he said.
Adarsh mentioned that the longer runtime practice is not new and was there during the yesteryears as well. “I remember watching Sholay, a three-hour plus film, in those days, or Hum Aapke Hain… Koun, which was also three-hour plus. Even Mughal-e-Azam was over three hours. When I was a kid, I saw Mera Naam Joker, which was a four-hour film with two intervals. Before that film, Raj Kapoor sahab made Sangam, which was also almost four hours long and a blockbuster. Mera Naam Joker didn’t do well initially. But the business it did in the repeat run was one of the biggest. It was one of the biggest businesses for Raj Kapoor’s RK Films in repeat runs.”
Both Adarsh and Rathi also highlighted how films with much shorter duration can turn out to be difficult to sit through. “You see so many shorter duration films failing at the box office because the content is not holding. There are a lot of times where a shorter duration film has tested my patience,” said Adarsh. Rathi added, “Even if a film is 2 hours and 30 minutes long, the storytelling can be boring, and people can get irritated within one hour.”
When asked whether the audience’s reduced attention span in today’s times can be a deterrent, Adarsh was quick to say, “Not at all. We saw that during Dhurandhar. It was released recently in December.”
Rathi compared the current movie-watching scenario with cricket where one format is facing the heat. “The one-day international format is dying a slow death. T20 as a format is doing very well. Suddenly, there is a lot of interest around test cricket. So, either the people want to savour the long duration play out, or they want a quick result. So, it’s the mid segment that is dying a slow death. Hence, the long duration of movies where storytelling is solid is not a problem at all,” he said.
Also Read: Akshay Kumar on Dhurandhar: “Audience has lapped it up, they have enjoyed it”
More Pages: Dhurandhar The Revenge Box Office Collection
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