Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge is one of the most anticipated films of the year. It’s going to take the story forward from the first part, Dhurandhar, which released in cinemas last December and went on to become the highest grossing Indian film ever at the domestic box office. It’s no surprise that the sequel is likely to perform even better and make history all over again.
One of the finer details in the recently released teaser of Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge reveals that it’ll eventually stream on JioHotstar and air on television channel Star Gold post its theatrical release on March 19. This is a strategic shift from the first part, which dropped on Netflix India on January 30, eight weeks after its theatrical release on December 5, 2025.
Dhurandhar immediately entered the Top 10 on Netflix India, and even Netflix Pakistan despite its allegedly jingoistic politics. However, the response to the film on streaming was still relatively muted than how it was upon its theatrical release. A large number of users also flagged issues with screen proportions, colour grading, and other technical issues on the streaming platform which hampered the film’s ideal viewing experience.
With its switch to JioHotstar, the makers hope to rectify those issues and make Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge a more seamless viewing experience on streaming. Another reason could be the fact that owing to the historic theatrical response to the first film and the consequent tremendous buzz for its sequel, JioHotstar could’ve offered a higher price in the streamers’ bidding war to claim the digital rights of the second part.
A third reason behind this switch could be because both JioHotstar and Star Gold fall under the same parent company as Jio Studios, the production house behind both parts of Dhurandhar. To make the economics of the first part work, the makers needed to get at least a significant fraction of its budget of around Rs 300 crore back on the planning table itself. Thus, it could afford to sell it only to the highest bidder, which turned out to be Netflix India, as opposed to the streaming of its parent company.
With Rs 1390 cr in bank with Dhurandhar…
But with the Rs 890 crore and over Rs 500 crore that Dhurandhar has earned at the domestic and overseas box office respectively, the makers are confident the sequel will make as much or even more when it releases in cinemas next month. They’ve also expanded on the scope of Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge, releasing it across five languages in India — Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada. Additionally, they’ve also secured a great window for the release on March 19, on the occasion of festivals like Eid, Gudi Padwa, and Ugadi.
While the exact terms of the streaming rights deal between Jio Studios and JioHotstar aren’t known, it could also be the case that given the digital rights are within the same ecosystem, the production house could control when to drop the sequel on streaming. That would allow it to extend the usual eight-week gap between theatrical and streaming releases in case the film continues to perform well at the box office even beyond its eighth week.
For instance, Dhurandhar maintained its stronghold at the domestic box office for seven weeks, even earning higher in its second week than its opening week. It also became the first Indian film to score double digits every day domestically for 28 days straight. It also turned out to score the highest grossing second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh week ever at the India box office. It began to slow down in its eighth week, only thanks to competition from Anurag Singh’s period war drama Border 2, starring Sunny Deol, which released in cinemas on January 23 ahead of the Republic Day.
Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge will have a formidable competitor in Geethu Mohandas’ Kannada action thriller Toxic: A Fairy Tale, starring KGF’s Yash, which is slated to release on the same date. It’ll have fresh competition in the from of Shaneil Deo’s bilingual (Telugu and Hindi) action thriller Dacoit: A Love Story, starring Major’s Adivi Sesh, on April 10, and Apoorva Lakhia’s miltary action film Battle of Galwan, starring Salman Khan, on April 17, four weeks after its theatrical release.
Music from Saregama to T-Series
JioStudios has not only opted for a new streaming platform for Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge, but also a new music partner. The first part’s popular music, by composer Shashwat Sachdev, was presented by Saregama, but that of the sequel will be presented by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series. The latter has one of the highest global footprints on YouTube and is also instrumental in presenting some of the most memorable and successful albums of all time, most recently Border 2.
As per reports, T-Series has also paid a whopping Rs 27 crore for the music rights of the Dhurandhar sequel, given how widely and deeply the music of the first part made an impact on business and pop culture — and continues to make even now. Since the cost also involves promotional expenses, the makers of Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge has benefitted from not only higher returns in its music vertical, but also secured a start-to-finish marketing partner in T-Series.
However, a disadvantage that the sequel may have in letting go of Saregama is the vast music catalogue it possesses, thanks to properties like Saregama Caravan. This may cost Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge an opportunity to cash in on retro classics like “Na Toh Caravan Ki Talash Hai” from Barsaat Ki Raat (1960) and “Rambha Ho” from Armaan (1981) like the first part. While T-Series does have a vast roaster of old songs of its own, it’s not extensive as Saregama.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
