Border 2: Sunny Deol film set to lose Rs 60 crore after Gulf ban, Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar suffered bigger setback

Headlined by Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, and Ahan Shetty, Border 2 released in the cinemas on January 23, and has opened to a thunderous response at the box office and has earned Rs 72.69 crore in its first two days. It is the spiritual sequel of JP Dutta's 1997 cult classic Border. Dutta serves as the co-producer now along with his daughter Nidhi Dutta and Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar, with Anurag Singh helming the war drama.

Border 2 didn't find a release in six Gulf nations -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due its alleged anti-Pakistan narrative. It is the second Indian film in recent times to be denied clearance for theatrical release in the Gulf countries after the blockbuster spy thriller Dhurandhar, featuring Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, and Sanjay Dutt in the leading roles.

According to exhibitors and distributors, the Middle East ban could hurt Border 2's international earnings, but healthy box office momentum at home and across other territories is likely to balance the losses. Devang Sampat, managing director, Cinepolis India, noted that while the Gulf region typically contributes 20–30 per cent of overseas collections for Indian films, the impact could be offset by performance in other territories. "This could be balanced by the long run Border 2 enjoys at other important centres globally, including North America, the UK and Australia, where patriotic action films tend to perform well with diaspora audiences", he told PTI.

Bhuvanesh Mendiratta, managing director, Miraj Entertainment Ltd, also downplayed concerns over the film’s absence from key Gulf markets. He said to PTI, "The absence of a release in key Gulf markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others will have some impact on overseas collections. However, I don’t see it as a major setback. The estimated impact would be in the range of Rs 50 to 60 crore, which translates to roughly a 10 per cent or even slightly lower dip in overseas business. The film’s strong domestic performance should more than compensate for this gap."

Raj Bansal, a film distributor and director of Entertainment Paradise in Jaipur, said the absence of Dhurandhar and Border 2 from Gulf markets has not dampened strong local demand. "The Gulf countries believe these films show anti-Muslim sentiments which is why the movies didn't release there. But I’ve heard from common friends that Dhurandhar has been watched in Gulf countries and even loved by people. Some are waiting for these films to drop on OTT so that they can watch it", he told PTI.

Dhurandhar grossed over Rs 1300 crore worldwide and earned close to Rs 900 crore in India, becoming the highest-grossing Hindi film in India and second highest globally. Pranab Kapadia, the film's overseas distributor, stated that its ban in Middle East resulted in loss of nearly $10 million or Rs 90 crore. He added that the Gulf market is crucial for Indian action films, which usually perform strongly in the region.

"I think this is at least a ten-million-dollar box office that we have lost, because traditionally, action films have always performed very well in the Middle East. And therefore, we feel that it should have gotten a release. But, at the same time, we have to respect the views and the rules and regulations of every territory and every country, and they have their reasons", Kapadia told CNN-News18.

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