Bollywood director Karan Johar, in a recent interview, addressed Dhurandhar’s immense box office feat. What is Bollywood’s biggest film today is being compared to regional heavyweights, like Baahubali, KGF, and Pushpa. The Dharma Productions headliner urged a shift in narrative. “Let’s not pull each other down,” he added.
Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar has had a dream run at the box office. With a theatrical run of 40 days and a sequel on the way, the Aditya Dhar directorial had the longest-running streak of Rs 20+ crore collections everyday. Talking about this ‘biggest business film’, Karan Johar compared the journey to Baahubali.
‘I’m the first propagator of filmmaking in the South’
Speaking about SS Rajamouli’s iconic cult-film Baahubali, Johar shared that he was “the first propagator of filmmaking in the South.” Bringing the film for the Hindi audience, he held full ownership of the phenomenon, since Baahubali in Hindi contributed to the biggest share of its box office collections.
“I brought a larger audience to a film like Baahubali, with Rajamouli sir’s blessing. I will forever be grateful to him to allow me to take it to a pan-Indian audience,” Johar said. However, he felt it wrong to compare the two industries. “Everyone’s doing their work,” he exclaimed.
Karan Johar on Dhurandhar
He acknowledged how films across regional languages, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil have managed to beat Bollywood bigwigs at the box office, even with their single-language release. The Rocky Rani maker then talked about Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar which not only became a mega-hit movie, but also a moment on the Internet with its viral soundtrack and more.
🚨 LATEST INTERVIEW
🚨 KARAN JOHAR TALKS ABOUT DHURANDHAR
He says that people always put Hindi cinema down by comparing it with South cinema, but one should look at how a Hindi film like #Dhurandhar has performed in theatres #Dhurandhar2 #RanveerSingh pic.twitter.com/GoxXqnqjB8
— Aditi (@Aditi289867132) January 16, 2026
“We have just given a Bonafide blockbuster film called Dhurandhar, which is home-bred by Bollywood writing, Bollywood filmmaking, Bollywood storytelling – I’m so exceptionally proud. Look at the business,” he added.
Defending his stance further, Johar added, “This should speak volumes that we have the talent, we have the ability, and an audience eager to watch us.” In the end, he called for a mutual celebration and support of talent.