New Delhi: For years, Bollywood's biggest sequels were immune to uncertainty. Once a star was announced, the film was practically unstoppable. Dhurandhar has shattered that illusion. Its success has coincided with the unexpected exits of Ranveer Singh from Don 3 and Akshaye Khanna from Drishyam 3, exposing how fragile even the strongest franchises can be in today's star-driven industry.
Dhurandhar opened strong, but what followed was unprecedented. The film has steadily marched towards the Rs 600 crore mark domestically and is already hovering around Rs 875 crore worldwide, overtaking every Indian release of 2025. Unlike the front-loaded performances of many recent hits, its weekday collections have remained stubbornly high, with even late Tuesdays clocking double-digit figures.
This sustained run has placed it on a collision course with the all-time greats of the last decade. With Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal and Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan in its crosshairs, the film has become more than just another success story.
When Farhan Akhtar announced Ranveer Singh as the new Don in 2023, social media erupted. For many fans, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan's swaggering portrayal of the suave criminal was a sacred territory, and the idea of a reboot was met with open hostility.
Yet Excel Entertainment framed the casting as the dawn of a "new era."
Two years later, the project is suddenly without its lead.
In the aftermath of Dhurandhar, Ranveer has reportedly reassessed his slate. Fresh off playing a ruthless outlaw, he appears wary of being locked into a cycle of similarly intense gangster roles. Rather than moving straight into Don 3, he has chosen to prioritise variety - fast-tracking the zombie survival thriller Pralay and keeping himself available for potential collaborations with other renowned filmmakers.
The fallout is immediate. Don 3 now finds itself in the uncomfortable position of rebuilding from scratch. Kriti Sanon remains attached after Kiara Advani's earlier exit, but without a Don, the entire film is back on the drawing board.
If Ranveer's decision is rooted in creative recalibration, Akshaye Khanna's departure from Drishyam 3 is a story of negotiation power.
Akshaye Khanna entered the franchise in Drishyam 2 as IG Tarun Ahlawat, a character that injected fresh tension into the long-running crime saga. Yet it was Dhurandhar that elevated him into a different commercial bracket altogether. His portrayal of Lyari gangster Rehman Dakait transformed him into one of the film's most talked-about performers.
Buoyed by that success, Akshaye Khanna reportedly pushed for a significant fee hike and creative changes to his look for Drishyam 3. The makers, already deep into planning Ajay Devgn's 2026 release, resisted the demands, leading to a stalemate.
The clues were subtle but telling: recent franchise announcements conspicuously omitted his name, even in hashtag lists for actors not present on social media.
Now, a franchise once known for its stable cast is facing the prospect of replacing one of its most impactful newer additions.
The simultaneous exits from Don 3 and Drishyam 3 are not coincidences. They are symptoms of a deeper shift sparked by Dhurandhar's extraordinary performance. In an industry that has long been dominated by producer-driven franchises and brand loyalty, the film has reminded everyone that box office supremacy can radically alter the hierarchy.
For decades, stars were often expected to serve the franchise - stepping into established worlds, fitting pre-designed moulds and accepting predetermined terms. Dhurandhar has flipped that equation. Its success has handed its actors unprecedented leverage, enabling them to say no to projects that no longer align with their personal strategies, whether that means avoiding typecasting or demanding a seat at the negotiating table.
What makes this moment particularly striking is the fragility it exposes in Bollywood's franchise culture. Two of the most anticipated sequels of the coming years are now leaderless, not because of creative failure, controversy, or box office disaster, but because a single runaway hit has empowered its cast to reassert control.
For producers, the message is clear: star contracts can no longer be treated as formalities, and legacy brands no longer guarantee compliance. For actors, Dhurandhar stands as proof that one exceptional performance can redefine their market value overnight.
In that sense, Dhurandhar is not just the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025. It is a turning point for Bollywood.
