Of all things, a war between US-Israel and Iran gave the face-saving grounds that Kannada actor Yash and his expensive film Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups were looking for to step away from a box office battle with Part 2 of Dhurandhar on March 19.

How vastly the scene has changed. Dhurandhar and Aditya Dhar, who were received with a sneer in December, have become names that spell fear for competitors. Those who attempted to smear them with hate had to withdraw their fangs as the Dhars changed the box office history of Hindi cinema.

While all other films steered clear of a collision, Yash and the co-producers of Toxic kept up their swag for a long while even as they looked frantically for a respectable escape route. But apart from Dhurandhar arriving with a formidable reputation, the maths too didn’t favour Toxic. Yash has ₹1,100 to ₹1,200 crore riding on his film, while Dhurandhar costs half the price for two full-length feature films.

Also, public memory is short. Yash’s last goldmine KGF 2 was four years ago; Shashwat Sachdev’s pulsating music, Ranveer Singh’s all-absorbing menace and Akshaye Khanna’s robust Balochi are daisy fresh.

At this juncture, one wonders if a certain production banner backed by a media house is feeling sheepish for not having entertained Aditya Dhar when he had approached them with Dhurandhar a few years ago. One hears that those taking creative calls there had brought their personal politics into the boardroom while outwardly posturing that the budget was unviable.

But it would be a blinkered viewpoint to dismiss Dhurandhar as a film that worked because of its perceived propaganda. From The Bengal Files and The Kerala Story 2 to 72 Hours and The Sabarmati Report, it’s been proven time and again that no political stance can sell a film. Those opposed to Dhar were stunned that his blockbuster showcased cinematic skills. It led to a funny observation from someone opposed to his cinema who termed him “dangerous” and “crafty” because he knew his craft.

While Dhurandhar: The Revenge will probably spark off another round of debate, Toxic retreating from the battlefield is a sensible move because when it comes in June, it will have undivided attention. Toxic has its own interesting profile with a woman directing this testosterone-oozing gangster and gunmen movie. National Award-winning Geetu Mohandas, actor-director from Malayalam cinema whose first short fiction film was included in the Class XII Kerala state syllabus, will get a solo spotlight. This calculation is wisdom, not cowardice.

The biggies leaving the field out of expediency has resulted in an unexpected benefit for a small but wholesome film. After two years of going all over the world, picking up a Bafta and accolades at TIFF, IFFI and Melbourne, a Manipuri film has got its chance in the theatres. Boong celebrates innocence and friendship, tugs at the heart with a child’s longing for a parent, his coming-of-age encounter with reality and his mother’s gentle, stoic presence. A passing mannerism of the child is beautifully turned into the centrepoint for discovering what happened to his father.

Director Lakshmipriya Devi packs so much into a 95-minute film that she also slips into her storytelling a glimpse of the socio-politics of Manipur, including the outsider-insider divide.

Sitting in the comfort of Mumbai, one is unaware of the realities of border states, ignorant that a resident of Manipur, for instance, could walk in and out of next-door Myanmar. Lately, the Free Movement Regime has been suspended but it was a reality when Lakshmipriya made her film. The change in this ground reality is an indication of how fast the scene shifts in a volatile state.

It’s heartening that Mumbai boys Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani have backed this lovely film from the Northeast.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author