Dhurandhar 2 Telugu, Tamil shows to begin at 9 pm following various delays; exhibitors blame producers as cinemas manage fallout

Dhurandhar The Revenge was scheduled to host its preview shows across India on March 18 but the last minute changes in the content have led to a massive delay that now threatens the film's premiere shows.

What was supposed to be a smooth preview night for Dhurandhar: The Revenge has turned into a last-minute scramble, with multiple technical and logistical failures disrupting premiere shows across many cities in the southern part of India.

‘Certain scenes getting deleted set off a chain reaction’
Industry analyst Anupam Reddy confirmed to SCREEN that the Hindi print of the film has not reached Hyderabad in time for the preview shows.

“The delay lasted for at least an hour, and the Telugu dubbed version will not be available for tonight’s premiere shows at all.

If the situation does not resolve quickly, it risks pushing the Telugu release into tomorrow’s regular shows, affecting those as well.”
At the centre of this appears to be a delay in content mastering on the producers’ end.

“There are certain scenes in the film that were deleted close to the release date, which set off a chain reaction that pushed back the entire technical delivery pipeline”.

Reddy indicated that this last-minute editing is what led to the content mastering getting delayed in the first place.

Multiple Telugu premiere shows cancelled
On the ground, at least one prominent exhibitor in the city pointed directly to the dubbing process as the breaking point.

The delayed dubbing meant that the content could not be uploaded to Qube, the satellite delivery system used by most multiplexes, on time.

This has resulted in the cancellation of multiple Telugu premiere shows across Hyderabad on what should have been a celebratory opening night.

Also Read: Dhurandhar 2 Movie Review LIVE Updates: Hindi shows of Ranveer Singh film face delays, non-Hindi shows cancelled; film earns Rs 200 cr
The problems do not stop there.

Sources from the industry report that several multiplex chains attempting to screen Dhurandhar: The Revenge in Dolby Cinema format are being forced to play the film in standard format instead, because the Dolby-specific content package was never delivered.

For premium format screens that had sold tickets at higher prices for the Dolby experience, this is a significant issue that will need to be addressed with affected audiences.

On the other hand, many worry that the Hindi version of the film might not have subtitles.

Cinemas managing fallout in real time
Exhibitors across the city have been vocal about where they place the blame.

The consensus, from multiple sources, is that this is a planning failure on the part of the producers.

With one of the biggest releases of the year, the expectation is that content delivery is locked and dispatched well before premiere night.

That clearly did not happen here, and cinemas are now managing the fallout in real time.

The situation is being monitored closely, with exhibitors hoping that at least some of the delayed content can be delivered in time to salvage the shown scheduled for later in the night.

Dhuarndhar The Revenge is the sequel of Dhurandhar, which released in December.

The first part released only in Hindi, but following the warm response the film received from souther states, the sequel is releasing in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, alongside the original version in Hindi.

Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.