Drishyam The Conclusion has moved decisively past the Rs 200 crore mark, and the trade now expects it to finish above Rs 350 crore. That would close Tanhaji – The Unsung Warrior’s six-and-a-half-year run as Ajay Devgn’s highest-grossing release.
The record in sight
Tanhaji collected Rs 279.55 crore when it released in 2020. Drishyam The Conclusion is already being called Ajay Devgn’s biggest opener, biggest weekend and biggest overseas grosser, and the lifetime record is the next one to fall.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh told Bollywood Hungama that the run is significant because the film has no songs or action.
“It doesn’t have songs and action. And yet, it is making those numbers, which is a very positive sign for the industry.”
He said the result shows audiences will turn up for any kind of cinema, as long as it connects with them.
By the numbers
- Crossed so far: Rs 200 crore
- Projected lifetime: more than Rs 350 crore
- Record to beat: Tanhaji’s Rs 279.55 crore
- Opening day: Rs 62 crore
Trade analyst Atul Mohan made a sharper distinction: this will be Ajay Devgn’s biggest solo hit, not just a career-best helped by another lead or a multi-starrer.
Distributor-exhibitor Raj Bansal pointed to goodwill from the actor’s last release, Dhamaal 4. Even so, he said nobody in the trade expected a Rs 50 crore opening; the film opened at Rs 62 crore. Bansal had told Devgn two weeks before release that this would be his career’s biggest film, and the actor reportedly replied, “Kya baat kar raha hai tu?”
Franchise power over original titles
Exhibitor Vishek Chauhan said the result proves that Ajay Devgn plus a strong franchise works commercially. He noted that the star’s original films tend to open in the Rs 8-15 crore range, while franchise titles can travel much further. His advice for Devgn and Akshay Kumar is to lean on established franchises, aim for two a year, and keep building new ones.
That logic is already shaping expectations for Golmaal 5, which pairs Devgn with Akshay Kumar. Chauhan believes if Drishyam The Conclusion can open at Rs 62 crore, Golmaal 5 can target Rs 70-80 crore on day one.
He also pointed to Hollywood, where Tom Cruise’s non-franchise Digger opened far below Top Gun and Mission: Impossible numbers. The audience, he suggested, may want established stars inside the stories it already knows.
For film fans, the immediate takeaway is simple: the Drishyam franchise is now Devgn’s most bankable asset, and Golmaal 5 is the next big beneficiary.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com