Okay, so it has been more than a day, and finally, now, I am over the Dhurandhar 2 fever. I mean, the excitement is far from over! However, to be specific, my excitement died with the paid preview itself because it was such a hassle to watch the film! When the trailer for the film dropped, the nation was chanting one thing: Revenge. As a cinema buff, I was very excited to watch Ranveer Singh unleash his fury as the king of Lyari!
Aditya Dhar promised us a cinematic explosion, and he delivered. But the only thing that killed the buzz was the paid previews! While the advance booking numbers soared high, I am not sure why and how the prep was underwhelming.
Here is my personal journal of what exactly happened when I reached the venue for my paid preview on March 18. So, I booked a show, for 5 PM on March 7 itself! In fact, my whole team did the same since everyone was excited and none of us wanted to spoil our moods with social media spoilers that were obviously tough to avoid once the first show began!
But none of us expected that their shows would be cancelled. One of my colleagues informed me that his show in Maharashtra was cancelled. Now, I was dicey about mine! I called PVR Cinemas, and they assured me that my show, in a tier 2 city multiplex, will run as scheduled! I was relieved. I reached for my 5 PM show at 4.35 PM. Yes, I was excited and did not want to miss it for anything!
But PVR Cinemas called me at 4.52 or something to inform me that my 5 PM show has been cancelled! I was mad to another level, only because I was too excited for anyone to spoil my fun! But then, I checked the social media to realize I was not the only one! To put it bluntly: The prep wasn’t well, the Eendhan in the theaters failed obviously, they blamed it on technical issues! But my hausla was not surrendered yet!
I checked for a single screen show again and booked the most uncomfortable seat for a 5.30 pm show. I was seated, and I did not know if they would screen it because by this time, I had trust issues (I honestly have trust issues ever since my last relationship), but fingers were crossed.
Alia Bhatt appeared on screen for an ad, and the screen froze! I was too sure, ‘Ye saare milke humko bewakoof bana rahe hain!’ I even texted a PR, irritated if they are actually screening paid previews or not! She heard my rant and assured me that people are watching it, but none of the people I knew were watching it! But here’s the silver lining – finally, this show started, as scheduled! (Cinema Gods reside in single screens, I am very sure!)
What happened next was another level of hustle! The second half was mismanaged, delayed, and amidst a lot of confusion! I started cross-checking, and the internet and my friend circle confirmed the same! By this time, my Hausla had surrendered. I was not sure if I should stay or leave, but I was so in love with the world Aditya Dhar weaved that I did not want to leave!
By this time, my inner Geet from Jab We Met was screaming – Bahut adventure ho gaya babaji. Ab boring kar do ji is raat ko! Finally, the second half also happened, and here comes another twist! I am from Prayagraj, and the story shifted to Ateeq Ahmed, with a lot of Muslim crowd in the theater. Now, honestly, I was scared. People kept screaming and shouting during some of the scenes, which might or might not be true, depending upon their alliances and allegiances. But this could turn into rage at any moment! In fact, anything can turn into a rage at any moment these days!
Finally, the film ended after a lot more hours than it actual screen time. Honestly, I watched Dhurandhar 2 with a 6 – 7 hour hassle! And this definitely was not promised! Clearly, the Badla prep was not enough, and there should have been full eendhan to enjoy this one! My experience was very exhausting, but nonetheless, the cinema buff in me is happy that finally Indian Cinema is witnessing great storytelling. But the hassle and the pressure could have been avoided!
Coming to the box office numbers of day 0, I am still not sure how they did not change despite so many cancellations! But I am sure math would have mathed!
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