Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar 2 is now headed for a box office clash with Pawan Kalyan’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh, after Yash’s Toxic averted a clash. Amid this, Ustaad Bhagat Singh director Harish Shankar does not seem too concerned about the big clash. He believes the box office has enough room for multiple big releases to succeed simultaneously.
Ustaad Bhagat Singh director Harish Shankar reacts to Dhurandhar 2 clash
The filmmaker addressed Ustaad Bhagat Singh’s upcoming clash with Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar 2. He clarified that the final call on the release date was not his alone.
When asked how he views the situation and whether he feels nervous about going up against Aditya Dhar’s sequel, Harish Shankar responded candidly. At the same time, he openly praised the filmmaker behind the rival project. He told Gulte, “With all due respect, Aditya Dhar is a superior filmmaker. I watched Uri. He is a very impactful, very influential filmmaker. Having said that, India-wide films should consider Dhurandhar as competition. But we have our Telugu states for the film. Also, they both belong to very different genres. If, in place of Dhurandhar, it was an SRK (Shah Rukh Khan) movie, songs, full entertainer zone, then we would have thought, ‘Oh, it’s similar to our film.’ But Bhagat Singh and Dhurandhar are totally different films.”
Harish also explained that the release strategy was a collective call and not something he decided alone. He added, “Also, it’s a collective decision. It wasn’t in my hands alone. Somewhere within, I too felt, ‘I am doing a film with Pawan Sir after so long, and for that film to compete with any other big film…’ And still, whether it’s Sankranti or summer, it’s always a combination. There is space for 2-3 big films to work. It’s not like they won’t show any other film except Dhurandhar across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.” The director also sounded confident that Pawan Kalyan’s loyal fan base would turn up at theatres.
Ustaad Bhagat Singh vs Dhurandhar 2: All you need to know about both films
The current box office face-off took shape after the makers of Geetu Mohandas and Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups postponed their film amid the US-Israel-Iran conflict. Following the delay, Ustaad Bhagat Singh moved up its release to occupy the vacant slot.
The film, which was originally scheduled to release later this month, will now arrive in theatres on March 19 during Ugadi. It will clash directly with Dhurandhar 2.
Ustaad Bhagat Singh is an adaptation of Atlee and Vijay’s 2016 film Theri and has been in production since 2023. The film also stars Sreeleela and Raashii Khanna, while Devi Sri Prasad and Thaman S have composed the music and background score.
Meanwhile, Dhurandhar 2 brings Ranveer Singh back as Hamza, also known as Jaskirat, an Indian spy operating in Pakistan. The film also features R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Danish Pandor, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun.
