India's Rs 500 crore club: Why Aditya Dhar is leading the new-age directors
Aditya Dhar leads a new wave of directors shaping India's Rs 500 crore box office club, joined by names like Rohit Shetty and SS Rajamouli, as large-scale storytelling continues to redefine commercial success in Indian cinema.
- Mar 28, 2026,
- Updated Mar 28, 2026 10:00 AM IST
The Rs 500 crore box office benchmark, once considered an outlier in Indian cinema, is now increasingly becoming a defining metric of blockbuster success. At the forefront of this shift is Aditya Dhar, whose rapid rise has positioned him among the most influential directors shaping this elite club.
Aditya Dhar: The new benchmark
Aditya Dhar's trajectory stands out not just for scale, but for consistency. His debut film, Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), was a major commercial success, but it is his Dhurandhar franchise that has firmly established his dominance at the box office.
Dhurandhar (2025) emerged as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films, earning ₹1,307.35 crore in gross collections globally, while its sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge has crossed the ₹1,000 crore mark globally and collected a total of ₹674.17 crore in India so far.
What sets Dhar apart is his ability to combine high-concept storytelling with mass appeal. His films blend nationalism, action and emotional drama, creating repeat value and strong word-of-mouth key drivers in pushing films into the Rs 500 crore bracket.
Importantly, Dhar has achieved these numbers with a limited filmography, making his per-film average among the highest in the industry.
The directors behind the Rs 500 crore era
While Dhar is leading the current momentum, he is part of a broader group of filmmakers who have consistently delivered large-scale box office successes.
SS Rajamouli
Beyond Bollywood, SS Rajamouli has arguably set the gold standard for large-scale box office success in India. With Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali: The Conclusion and RRR, he not only crossed the Rs 500 crore mark but redefined what a pan-India blockbuster looks like, consistently pushing films into the Rs 1000 crore range globally. His ability to blend spectacle with emotionally driven storytelling has made his films massive theatrical events.
Bandreddi Sukumar
Popularly known as Sukumar, he has carved his own space with the Pushpa franchise, particularly Pushpa: The Rise, which emerged as a nationwide phenomenon, and Pushpa 2, which further expanded its box office footprint.
During its run at the worldwide box office, Pushpa 2: The Rule emerged as a massive box office success, grossing ₹1,742.10 crore worldwide. In comparison, its predecessor Pushpa: The Rise -Part 1 had collected ₹350.10 crore globally.
His storytelling, rooted in strong characters and mass appeal, has helped bridge regional and national audiences, contributing significantly to the growing scale of Indian box office collections.
Rohit Shetty
Rohit Shetty remains one of the most commercially reliable directors in Bollywood, with blockbusters like Chennai Express, Simmba and Sooryavanshi driving his mass appeal. His cop universe, led by films such as Singham and Simmba, has consistently delivered strong box office numbers.
Chennai Express recorded a worldwide gross of around ₹422 crore during its theatrical run. Simmba followed with approximately ₹400 crore globally, while Sooryavanshi collected about ₹294 crore worldwide.
The Singham franchise has also been a major contributor to Shetty's commercial viability, with the first part earning around ₹157 crore and the second part, Singham Returns, making approximately ₹216 crore globally.
The latest addition to the Singham franchise, Singham Again, raked in ₹402 crore at the worldwide box office.
Siddharth Anand
Siddharth Anand, known for mounting slick action spectacles, has delivered major hits like War, Pathaan and Fighter.
War collected around ₹475 crore worldwide during its theatrical run. Pathaan went on to become a massive blockbuster, earning approximately ₹1,055 crore worldwide.
Fighter, however, failed to replicate the success that Anand achieved with War and Pathaan. The Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone-starrer patriotic drama recorded a worldwide gross of roughly ₹358-360 crore during its run.
His films have performed strongly not just in India but also in overseas markets, contributing significantly to the big-budget action boom.
Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani, working in a distinct storytelling space, has delivered some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian cinema, including PK, Sanju and 3 Idiots.
PK grossed approximately ₹769 crore worldwide during its theatrical run. Sanju followed with around ₹586 crore worldwide, emerging as one of the biggest biographical hits in India. 3 Idiots remains a landmark success, having collected about ₹460 crore worldwide, making it one of the earliest films to set global box office benchmarks for Bollywood.
His films have consistently pushed box office benchmarks while maintaining strong critical appeal.
The Rs 500 crore box office benchmark, once considered an outlier in Indian cinema, is now increasingly becoming a defining metric of blockbuster success. At the forefront of this shift is Aditya Dhar, whose rapid rise has positioned him among the most influential directors shaping this elite club.
Aditya Dhar: The new benchmark
Aditya Dhar's trajectory stands out not just for scale, but for consistency. His debut film, Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), was a major commercial success, but it is his Dhurandhar franchise that has firmly established his dominance at the box office.
Dhurandhar (2025) emerged as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films, earning ₹1,307.35 crore in gross collections globally, while its sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge has crossed the ₹1,000 crore mark globally and collected a total of ₹674.17 crore in India so far.
What sets Dhar apart is his ability to combine high-concept storytelling with mass appeal. His films blend nationalism, action and emotional drama, creating repeat value and strong word-of-mouth key drivers in pushing films into the Rs 500 crore bracket.
Importantly, Dhar has achieved these numbers with a limited filmography, making his per-film average among the highest in the industry.
The directors behind the Rs 500 crore era
While Dhar is leading the current momentum, he is part of a broader group of filmmakers who have consistently delivered large-scale box office successes.
SS Rajamouli
Beyond Bollywood, SS Rajamouli has arguably set the gold standard for large-scale box office success in India. With Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali: The Conclusion and RRR, he not only crossed the Rs 500 crore mark but redefined what a pan-India blockbuster looks like, consistently pushing films into the Rs 1000 crore range globally. His ability to blend spectacle with emotionally driven storytelling has made his films massive theatrical events.
Bandreddi Sukumar
Popularly known as Sukumar, he has carved his own space with the Pushpa franchise, particularly Pushpa: The Rise, which emerged as a nationwide phenomenon, and Pushpa 2, which further expanded its box office footprint.
During its run at the worldwide box office, Pushpa 2: The Rule emerged as a massive box office success, grossing ₹1,742.10 crore worldwide. In comparison, its predecessor Pushpa: The Rise -Part 1 had collected ₹350.10 crore globally.
His storytelling, rooted in strong characters and mass appeal, has helped bridge regional and national audiences, contributing significantly to the growing scale of Indian box office collections.
Rohit Shetty
Rohit Shetty remains one of the most commercially reliable directors in Bollywood, with blockbusters like Chennai Express, Simmba and Sooryavanshi driving his mass appeal. His cop universe, led by films such as Singham and Simmba, has consistently delivered strong box office numbers.
Chennai Express recorded a worldwide gross of around ₹422 crore during its theatrical run. Simmba followed with approximately ₹400 crore globally, while Sooryavanshi collected about ₹294 crore worldwide.
The Singham franchise has also been a major contributor to Shetty's commercial viability, with the first part earning around ₹157 crore and the second part, Singham Returns, making approximately ₹216 crore globally.
The latest addition to the Singham franchise, Singham Again, raked in ₹402 crore at the worldwide box office.
Siddharth Anand
Siddharth Anand, known for mounting slick action spectacles, has delivered major hits like War, Pathaan and Fighter.
War collected around ₹475 crore worldwide during its theatrical run. Pathaan went on to become a massive blockbuster, earning approximately ₹1,055 crore worldwide.
Fighter, however, failed to replicate the success that Anand achieved with War and Pathaan. The Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone-starrer patriotic drama recorded a worldwide gross of roughly ₹358-360 crore during its run.
His films have performed strongly not just in India but also in overseas markets, contributing significantly to the big-budget action boom.
Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani, working in a distinct storytelling space, has delivered some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian cinema, including PK, Sanju and 3 Idiots.
PK grossed approximately ₹769 crore worldwide during its theatrical run. Sanju followed with around ₹586 crore worldwide, emerging as one of the biggest biographical hits in India. 3 Idiots remains a landmark success, having collected about ₹460 crore worldwide, making it one of the earliest films to set global box office benchmarks for Bollywood.
His films have consistently pushed box office benchmarks while maintaining strong critical appeal.