Dhoom 2 seems all set to become the biggest hit of 2006. It has already outstripped the performance of Krrish, the year’s biggest grosser before Dhoom 2 burst on the scene. In fact, in certain pockets like Mumbai and Rajasthan, Aditya Chopra’s action thriller has raked in more moolah in just two weeks than what Rakesh Roshan’s super hero film garnered in its entire run. In the other territories of the country, this feat is expected to be achieved in the third week.

For Hrithik Roshan it’s a win-win situation, as he has played the lead role in both films. Even in the overseas market, Dhoom 2, directed by Sanjay Gadhvi, has done what no other Hrithik-starrer managed to do in the past. It had the third highest opening ever in the US and its first day’s collections in Dubai were the highest for any Bollywood film yet.

In fact, Dhoom 2 has taken the box office collections in India to another level altogether. In the first week, the distributor’s share in Mumbai was Rs 9.42 crore. That’s a mammoth figure, especially when you consider that Krrish and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (the latter, though not a hit, did exceptionally well in the first week) made Rs 6.6 crore and Rs 6.40 crore, respectively, in Mumbai in their first week.

As for Dhoom 1, the business of its entire run was less than even the first week’s business of its sequel. In places like Delhi and Gurgaon, the stalemate over revenue sharing between Aditya Chopra and multiplexes like PVR and Wave continued. But despite that, the revenues accrued from other cinemas and multiplexes of Delhi, U.P. and Punjab have been so outstanding that Dhoom 2 will comfortably overtake the business of Krrish in these areas too.

As mentioned earlier, the euphoria over Dhoom is evident in almost every part of the country. For instance, such was the demand for the film that a multiplex in Kota had to arrange two extra shows of the film in two of its screens on the first Sunday. Believe it or not, both screens ran to full houses for the midnight show as well. And those who could not manage to get seats on that show watched the 3 a.m. show. That too went house full! The situation was no different at Muzaffarnagar’s Meenakshi cinema, which got to display its ‘house full’ board for a night show after eight years. Because of the poor law and order situation in the city, the night shows normally witness low attendance, but Dhoom 2 saw a full house on its opening day.

If D2 is going great guns all over the country, so is Rajshri’s family drama, Vivah. Sooraj Barjatya’s tear-jerker was in its third week when Dhoom 2 hit the screens. Most films witness a major drop in their collections when a fresh multi-starrer is released. And if it is one as eagerly awaited as Dhoom 2, you can be sure that the drop in the running film’s collections will be a sharp one, at least on that particular Friday. But remarkably, Vivah registered only a negligible drop in its collections on the day Dhoom 2 was released. In fact, though Vivah started off on a slow note and had to withstand D2’s hurricane-like onslaught, it picked up speed later and is now doing pretty well at the box office. Vivah, made at an estimated cost of about Rs 7 crore, is expected to do a business of around Rs 13 to 14 crore at the theatres. Add to this another Rs 5 to 6 crore from electronic rights and other revenues, and you have Rajshri walking away with a neat profit of more than Rs 10 crore.

Komal Nahta is the editor of Film Information