3 min readHyderabadMar 19, 2026 03:49 PM IST
What was meant to be a triumphal pan-India debut for one of Bollywood’s most awaited spy sequels has turned into a logistical nightmare. Paid premiere and regular shows of Dhurandhar The Revenge, the blockbuster follow-up to Aditya Dhar’s franchise starring Ranveer Singh, were cancelled across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu on Thursday, leaving thousands of ticket holders frustrated and theatres scrambling for answers. The culprit: undelivered KDM (Key Delivery Message) licences and missing dubbed content. This happened on the day after Dhar shared an apology on social media amid preview show cancellations, promising regional language shows will begin from March 19 morning, the film’s official release.
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The release of Dhurandhar The Revenge took an unexpected turn. The dubbed versions of the film were officially not released, creating disappointment among fans who were eagerly waiting for regional language shows. Scheduled Telugu version premieres were being cancelled across multiple locations, with several theatres already initiating refunds for tickets.
The abrupt change came after Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions failed to reach cinemas in time, leaving exhibitors with no option but to drop the regional-language premieres of the ranveer Singh-starrer.
Industry analyst Anupam Reddy told SCREEN: “Producers’ lack of planning is leading to this chaos. We are sure that the movie will be received by tonight so that we don’t have to cancel tomorrow’s shows.”
An exhibitor from Hyderabad told SCREEN, “A KDM is a digital encryption key that “unlocks” a film’s digital print (DCP) at a specific theatre at a specific time. Without it, even if a theatre has the film’s hard drive, the content simply cannot be screened. For dubbed versions, which require separate DCPs and separate KDMs, the delivery window is even tighter.”
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For current ticket holders, exhibitors announced that refunds for online bookings would be processed automatically, while box office purchases could be settled immediately at the counters. The focus now shifts to a stable all-language debut to salvage the film’s massive box office potential.
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In the light of cancelling premiers of dubbed versions, Aditya Dhar released an apology statement on Wednesday evening. “To our dear Dhurandhar family, Dhurandhar is not just a film for us, it is something we have lived with, nurtured, and dreamed of sharing with each and every one of you, together, at the same moment, in every language.” Clarifying the status of screenings, Dhar added that most Hindi shows across India were running as scheduled from 5 PM onwards, while all Tamil and Telugu shows would commence from 9 PM onwards. He confirmed that Malayalam and Kannada shows would begin only from the following morning due to unforeseen technical difficulties, and that ticket holders for dubbed versions not currently playing at their cinema would have the option for a refund or to watch the Hindi version with subtitles instead
Ranveer Singh in a still from Dhurandhar: The Revenge, whose premiere shows in Hyderabad have been thrown into disarray on the eve of its release.