Dhurandhar vs Animal: Has Ranveer Singh's spy thriller outdone Ranbir Kapoor's hyperviolent saga at box office| Analysis

On the back of a stellar second weekend, Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar looks set to overtake and leave behind Ranbir Kapoor's Animal at the box office.

Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar is ensuring 2025 ends on a high note for Hindi cinema, as far as box office returns are concerned. Buoyed by exceptional word of mouth, the Aditya Dhar film is rewriting record books with its collections in the second week. Ever since the film’s first look was unveiled, many have been comparing it with Ranbir Kapoor’s 2023 blockbuster Animal.

Dhurandhar is slowly closing the gap with Animal despite a below-average start.

While the two films differ in themes and genres, both are hyperviolent actioners that were released in December with top millennial stars as leads. And even though it initially looked as if Dhurandhar would lose this race, the Aditya Dhar film has not only caught up with the Sandeep Reddy Vanga film but is also set to leave it behind.

Dhurandhar vs Animal box office analysis

Animal had the hype of a stellar trailer and great buzz behind it. Dhurandhar checked the boxes in the trailer department, but lost some of the buzz as the release date approached. As a result, it lost to Animal’s sheer numbers in the opening weekend. Animal collected a staggering ₹200 crore net in its opening weekend, while Dhurandhar lagged behind with ₹103 crore. Both films relied heavily on domestic earnings in their first weeks, and Animal closed week 1 with a global haul of ₹563 crore. Dhurandhar again lagged behind with ₹319 crore.

Dhurandhar has turned the tide in its second week.

But the second weekend is where the tide turned. Dhurandhar set new Bollywood collection records for each of the four days in its second weekend, taking its global haul after 11 days to ₹600 crore. At this point in its life cycle, Animal had collected ₹737 crore. However, by then, the film had lost momentum. For instance, Animal earned ₹13.85 crore net on its second Monday. Dhurandhar obliterated that with a ₹29-crore haul. In just four days, the Ranveer Singh film has closed the gap in collections from ₹244 crore to ₹137 crore, and given Dhurandhar’s momentum, it is likely to vanish completely by the third weekend.

When can Dhurandhar overtake Animal

By the end of its third weekend (Day 17), Animal had earned ₹835 crore globally. Dhurandhar appears poised to approach, if not surpass, this number. Trade insiders estimate the film should definitely cross the ₹850 crore barrier quicker than Animal (Day 19). This is largely because Dhurandhar has picked up pace both domestically and overseas. However, it may be hurt somewhat by the release of the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar: Fire and Ash this weekend, which will compete for screens both in India and abroad. Yet, Dhurandhar looks likely to finish ahead of Animal by the end of its run. Animal earned ₹915 crore gross worldwide, while trade pundits predict Dhurandhar to reach ₹1000 crore, if not more.

Animal slowed down after a massive week 1, while Dhurandhar has seen an upswing in collections.

All about Dhurandhar

Dhurandhar sees Ranveer Singh as Hamza, an Indian spy infiltrating the gangs of Pakistan’s Lyari. The film received praise for its performances, particularly those of Ranveer, Akshaye Khanna, and Rakesh Bedi. Directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar also stars Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal. A sequel, which concludes the story, will release on March 12, 2026.