₹3000 Crore Success: Dhurandhar Franchise Sparks Director Versus Star Ownership Debate

The phenomenal success of the Dhurandhar franchise has sparked an intriguing debate in Bollywood circles: does this ₹3000 crore juggernaut belong to director Aditya Dhar or star Ranveer Singh?

With Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge alone crossing ₹1500 crore worldwide within just 16 days, becoming only the fourth Indian film to reach this elite club alongside Dangal, Baahubali 2, and Pushpa 2, the franchise has rewritten box office history. Combined with the first film's ₹1350 crore collection, the duology has indeed breached the ₹3000 crore mark globally.

Yet increasingly, industry insiders are viewing this as Aditya Dhar's achievement rather than a conventional star vehicle. The Uri director's signature is evident throughout: from the gritty Karachi underworld setting to the complex espionage narrative that draws inspiration from real events like the IC-814 hijacking, 2001 Parliament attack, and 2008 Mumbai attacks. Critics have noted Dhar's ambition in creating a spy thriller that "does not just rely on loud patriotism but backs it up with grit, intelligence, and a scale that Indian cinema rarely attempts," cementing him "as a master of the war-spy genre".

This directorial ownership debate reflects a broader shift in how the industry perceives successful films. While Ranveer Singh delivers what critics call a "subdued yet scorching" performance, the consensus seems to be that Dhar's vision drives the narrative. The fact that the project was "initially conceived as a single film" but "later split into two parts due to its scale and narrative complexity" speaks to the director's ambitious storytelling.

The numbers certainly support both arguments. Dhurandhar 2's domestic collection of ₹959 crore has already surpassed KGF Chapter 2, the first Dhurandhar, RRR, and Jawan, while overseas, it became the highest-grossing Indian film in North America, overtaking its predecessor's lifetime total within just 10 days.

Perhaps the real answer lies in recognizing this as a rare perfect storm: a visionary director meeting a committed star at the peak of their respective powers. In an era where most big-budget films struggle to justify their scale, the Dhurandhar franchise has delivered both commercial success and creative ambition. Whether you call it Dhar's vision or Singh's star power, the result speaks for itself: Indian cinema's new benchmark for spy thrillers.