Mar 07, 2026 9:00am IST
Will Ranveer Singh’s ‘Dhurandhar 2’ Impact Pawan Kalyan-starrer ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ in Telugu states?
For the longest time, the news and updates of the box-office clash between “Dhurandhar 2” and “Toxic” dominated social media. However, the makers of the Yash-starrer recently announced the postponement of their epic gangster drama amid the Middle East conflict.
With "Toxic" out of the immediate competition, it was expected that Ranveer Singh’s spy-action would have an open playground at the box office. Still, the landscape changed again when the makers of Pawan Kalyan-starrer “Ustaad Bhagat Singh” preponed its release by a week, introducing a new direct competitor for “Dhurandhar 2.”
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This alters the competitive dynamic. Unlike “Toxic,” “Ustaad Bhagat Singh” is not a pan-India biggie, but the question remains whether the megastardom of Pawan Kalyan will impact the business of “Dhurandhar 2” in the Telugu states, or if it will be the other way around.
Talking about the clash, industry Tracker, Ramesh Bala tells Variety India, “It shouldn't affect ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ opening. The long run depends on the content of the film and Telugu states have enough screens to accommodate both.”
On the other hand, veteran trade analyst, Taran Adarsh emphasizes on Pawan’s starpower and shares, “In Telugu states, Pawan Kalyan is one of the biggest stars and I think ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ will be taking a mind-blowing, earth-shattering opening.”
Talking about the chances of “Dhurandhar 2” in Telugu states, he adds, “Having said that, the first part got a lot of love and worked at the box office in a very big way in the Telugu state and I'm expecting the second part also to do well, but ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ is a very big opponent in Telugu state. So let's see how it goes. But as of now, Pawan Kalyan is a major star and “Dhurandhar 2” will have to compete with it.
Talking about “Ustaad Bhagat Singh,” the movie is directed by Harish Shankar and also features Sreeleela, Raashii Khanna, Ashutosh Rana, Nawab Shah, B. S. Avinash, Gautami and Chammak Chandra in prominent roles.
On the other hand, “Dhurandhar 2” stars R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi, among others. It is helmed by Aditya Dhar.
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