Ramayana vs Dhurandhar 2: How Ranveer Singh film, with its gore and A-rating, beat Ranbir Kapoor-starrer's family-friendly appeal

Ramayana earned ₹507 crore worldwide in its four-day opening weekend, coming a distant second behind Dhurandhar 2, which minted ₹747 crore in its first 4 days.

It is the most expensive Indian film ever made. Ramayana's exact budget, though, remains a mystery. Years ago, producer Namit Malhotra claimed the two parts were being made for $500 million ( ₹4000 crore). More recent reports have claimed that Part 1 has a landing cost of ₹1600 crore (approximately $175 million). Either way, Ramayana needs to make a ton of money to break even. In fact, it needs to out-earn the likes of Dhurandhar 2 and Pushpa 2 just to be profitable. But if the opening day and weekend have indicated anything, it’s that the crown of Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar 2 is secure. And that is a curious thing. How did Ramayana, the story with the most universal appeal and devotional following, fail to unseat an A-rated violent spy thriller?

Dhurandhar 2 remains the highest-grossing Hindi film in India.

Dhurandhar 2’s edge over Ramayana

Dhurandhar: The Revenge arrived with unprecedented hype when it released this March. The blockbuster success of part 1 meant that advance bookings for the sequel reached never-before-seen numbers. The Aditya Dhar film gave pan-India behemoths a run for their money, becoming the first Bollywood film to earn ₹100 crore in a day domestically and ₹200 crore worldwide. Ramayana should have emulated these numbers, given its massive scale and wide overseas release. Yet, it had to settle for ₹65 crore in India and ₹128 crore worldwide. These are staggering numbers for any film without a ₹1600+ crore budget. But sadly, Ramayana does not fall in that category.

The edge Dhurandhar 2 had was its appeal as a sequel to a revered film. The timing of the release also mattered. Part 2 arrived just three months after Part 1. In fact, the first Dhurandhar was still playing in theatres when The Revenge released. The film's nationalistic themes and slick production values also added to its appeal.

Deep Dive

Why did Dhurandhar 2 beat Ramayana at the box office despite its A-rating and violent scenes?

How much did Ramayana earn worldwide in its opening weekend?

Why does Ramayana need to earn more than Dhurandhar 2 to become profitable?

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But the biggest surprise is that Dhurandhar 2 offset an A-rating and abundant gore with its hype. On paper, Ramayana should draw crowds by the dozen, with families also raring to go to the theatres en masse. But that universal appeal wasn’t enough to outdo Dhurandhar 2’s hype, at least in the opening weekend.

	Budget	Day 1 WW	First 4 days
Dhurandhar 2	₹250 crore	₹203 crore	₹747 crore
Ramayana	₹1600 crore	₹128 crore	₹507 crore

Ranveer Singh’s crown stays intact

Over the last decade, Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor have been hyped up as the best - and most bankable - stars of their generation. Vicky Kaushal has attempted to enter the fray with Uri and Chhaava, but the larger conversation centres on Ranbir and Ranveer. With Animal, Ranbir seemed to pull ahead before Ranveer reigned supreme with the two Dhurandhars. Ramayana was being seen as Ranbir’s turn to stake the throne again, but it hasn’t quite panned out that way. The Nitesh Tiwari-directed film earned 36% less than Dhurandhar 2 on its opening day and 32% less over its first four days (including the extended weekend).

The post-Diwali break is bound to diminish the gap, but unless word of mouth really kicks in, Ramayana may not be able to overtake Dhurandhar 2 any time soon. That means the film’s hope of breaching the ₹2000-crore mark may remain just a dream. Dhurandhar 2 missed that mark by about ₹150 crore. Ramayana would have to see a great surge overseas to beat Dhurandhar 2 there.

All about Ramayana

Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana is the first part of a duology. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The first part released worldwide on November 5, while the second part is set for release on Diwali 2028.