Sanjay Gupta Slams ‘Unnecessary’ Eid Box Office Clash Between Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic

Sanjay Gupta has described the March 19, 2026, box office battle in between Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic as unfortunate and unnecessary. The movies featuring Ranveer Singh and Yash respectively will directly release over the festive weekend during the Eid-al-Fitr, Gudi Padwa, and Ugadi. Gupta cautioned that in the process both mega-budgets projects will cannibalise the business, cutting down on the total profits. Based on his experience working on the 2017 Kaabil vs Raees collision, he has claimed that Indian viewers are not likely to spend a lot of money on several heavyweight movies in a short period. Although there is said to be tension, Yash is not thinking of delaying Toxic.

Holiday Movie Becomes Battlefield of Top-tier movies

The March 19, 2026 premiere date has become an all-stakes battlefield. Dhurandhar: The Revenge: a movie by Aditya Dhar, is going to compete with Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups, a film by Geetu Mohandas and starring Yash. The date is during the months of Eid-al-Fitr, Gudi Padwa and Ugadi- traditionally profitable in terms of box office revenues. The rationale of such a strategy has been questioned by Sanjay Gupta. He states that rather than maximising the revenue on festivals, a conflict breaks the attention of the audience and divides screen shares. Traditionally, holiday windows prefer individual release that overtakes the theatres across the country. When two big-budget movies serve similar segments of the audience, especially those centred on action-oriented, mass audiences, the outcome tends to reduce the cumulative returns. According to the criticism of Gupta, long-term profitability in the theatrical ecosystem that is increasingly competitive in India depends not on aggressive positioning but on strategic timing.

Reality vs Star Power Economic Reality vs Star Power

Gupta is not only worried about the number of screens but also consumer economics. He pointed out that it is impractical to expect audiences to watch two big movies in one month based on spending limitations. Repeat views and good word of mouth over the weeks is usually a part of theatrical success in India as opposed to Western markets where disposable income is higher.

He even cited his personal experience in 2017 when Kaabil had conflict with Raees, and he said both movies had missed out on money. The argument is a challenge to a popular industry fact: that star power is the only sure formula of a lasting performance. The implication that Gupta comes up with is that box office performances are determined more by macroeconomic elements such as ticket pricing, regional audience behaviour and inflation rather than hype. Such conflicts are threatening to cut theatrical engagements and defuse opening weekend energy in an age of growing OTT rivalry.

Imaginative Contrast and Tension in the industry

The conflict is not so much commercial but stylistic. Ram Gopal Varma called it a confrontation between the ultra-realistic and the ultra-unrealistic spectacle (Dhurandhar 2) and ultra-realism (Toxic). Dhurandhar 2 is an action- Thriller spy movie with Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal. Toxic is a period gangster movie with Yash and Kiara Advani as its stars.

It has been reported that Yash was dissatisfied with the fact that he was not told about the competing release date even though Toxic had earlier done the same. Nevertheless, he is adamant about not procrastinating. This is indicative of a wider trend in the industry whereby production houses are focusing more on strategic control rather than being cooperative in the timing of production. After all, it will be the box office that will tell whether competition brings the excitement or disintegrates the market.