The buzz around its release is palpable. Like a wildly beating heart. And I just cannot wait for the curtain to go up on ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ at a cinema near me tomorrow evening. I am seeing it before the frontbenchers who have been biting their nails in anticipation of the sequel after Ranveer Singh tore through the box-office with his unapologetic and gritty portrayal of espionage in Aditya Dhar’s prequel last December.

Salman Khan fans who are feeling cheated that their Bhai jaan has no Eid release this year, can seek comfort in the fact that the massive success of its predecessor has positioned ‘Dhurandhar 2’ as 2026’s biggest release. Trade experts are bindaas in their opinion that this film will bring audiences back to the theatres and set new box office records. They are also predicting a record-breaking opening this weekend for Jyoti Deshpande's spy action thriller.

And there are several reasons why their forecast for ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ is going to be on the nail. The film has seen an historically-high advance booking since windows opened on March 7. It is because yeh dil maange more – everybody wants to know what happens next. And Aditya Dhar played his cards wisely by shooting the sequel, keeping it ready, and planning its release three months after he had whetted audiences’ appetites with ‘Dhurandhar’.

Sharing the burden of guaranteeing a success of the sequel along with Ranveer Singh, R. Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Rampal is a cast of new faces that Aditya Dhar brought in to make the pot boil. Among them are Yami Gautam and Emraan Hashmi. Akshaye Khanna, who was utterly and charmingly evil in the prequel, has likely made the cut with unseen footage of his character Rehman Dakait. Ram Gopal Varma said if the first part scared the industry in terms of impact and box-office potential, the second part will terrify Bollywood! That’s what I am hoping for.