UAE-GCC faces Bollywood blackout on Eid for FIRST time since Covid; Dhurandhar and Border 2’s ‘ban’, Toxic and Jana Nayagan’s postponement, The RajaSaab’s debacle cause losses of nearly USD 15 million

Eid is a major festival around the world, especially in the UAE-GCC belt. The festival is also synonymous with a major release, particularly from Bollywood, which often does very well in the region. However, for the first time in 6 years, no Hindi film would have a release on Eid in the region. The last time this occurred was in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. Dhurandhar: The Revenge is the big Bollywood Eid release of the year, but like the first part, it is unlikely to get passed in any country in the Gulf region. Toxic was also to be released alongside Dhurandhar, but it has been pushed to June 4 due to the Iran-US conflict.

Industry sources told Bollywood Hungama that the box office situation in the Middle East in the last six months has been underwhelming with regard to revenue from Indian films. Border 2 and the first part of Dhurandhar, the two films that set the box office on fire in recent times, didn’t release in the belt. Films from down South have also not worked here, except Kantara: A Legend Chapter – 1, which earned around 4 million USD. A lot of hopes were pinned on Toxic and Vijay Thalapathy’s last film, Jana Nayagan, but the latter has been pushed indefinitely due to political reasons.

The RajaSaab earned a paltry 0.45 million USD from the region. The only two recent films that managed to put up respectable collections from India after Kantara are Sarvam Maya and Eko, earning 2.6 million USD and 1.2 million USD in the UAE, respectively. It is nowhere close to L2 Empuraan, one of the Eid releases of 2025, which earned a whopping 6.3 million USD from the UAE alone, or Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra, Saiyaara and Coolie that accumulated 8.50 million, 5.9 million USD and 4.4 million USD from the Gulf region, respectively.

In December 2025, Bollywood Hungama had spoken to trade experts who confirmed that Dhurandhar’s first part had the potential to earn 5 to 6 million USD. An industry insider commented, “With Dhurandhar: The Revenge expected to do much more, one can presume that it would have earned 7-8 million USD in the Gulf.”

Thankfully, Hollywood and local films have been attracting footfalls. However, Indian films form a significant chunk of exhibitors’ revenue in the region and, due to these circumstances, collections have fallen short.

Experts speak up

Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “UAE-GCC can contribute to a huge chunk of the overseas box office. Of course, it differs from film to film and success to success. With multiplexes and screens coming in, the market automatically got that push. Also, the quality of films improved. At the same time, a lot of Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans began to consume our films. Even the Arabs love Indian movies.”

Trade analyst Atul Mohan commented, “The small and mid-sized Hindi films, which release in the Middle East, don’t do substantial business. Hence, the stakeholders out there are dependent on the tentpole films. The Indian diaspora forms a substantial chunk of the population in the region. It’s unfortunate that Dhurandhar has been banned there. Since the first part didn’t release there, I doubt the sequel will also be allowed to be released. It goes without saying.”

He sighed, “Eid is a major festival in the Middle East and sadly, there’ll be no major Indian film releasing out there. Hence, it’s a setback for the Gulf box office.”

Girish Johar, producer and eminent film business analyst, confirmed, “Hindi films are critical to the Middle East market. Even Hollywood films are played over there along with the local language movies. Nevertheless, Hindi films have a substantial fan base. There’s no denial about that. Hence, there’s a rough patch in that regard at least.”

Suniel Wadhwa, co-founder and director at film production and distribution firm Karmic Films, revealed, “The situation is quite bad in the entire Gulf region. It contributes almost 40% of revenue overseas for a South Indian film.”

He added, “Jawan earned 35-36% of its worldwide box office from the Gulf. Pushpa 2’s share was close to 32% while that of Animal was close to 30%. Otherwise, the total share hovers between 15% and 18%.”

When asked how much the Indian box office contributes to the overall Middle-East box office, Girish Johar said, “By and large and over the years, our films have been contributing around 30-35% of the total share.”

What does the future hold?

However, there’s hope as Akshay Kumar’s Bhooth Bangla will be released in a month’s time, on April 10. Taran Adarsh confirmed, “In case Dhurandhar: The Revenge doesn’t release in UAE-GCC, Bhooth Bangla will be the first beneficiary.”

Girish Johar added, “Bhooth Bangla seems like a good entertainer and hence, it has the chances. Ustaad Bhagat Singh and Drishyam 3 can also score.” The former is a Telugu film starring Pawan Kalyan and it releases on March 19. The latter is the much-awaited Mohanlal-starrer, which is all set to arrive worldwide on April 2.

But with the tensions in the region still prevailing, Suniel Wadhwa cautioned that it might affect future releases as well, “I won’t be surprised if Drishyam 3 also decides to postpone.”

Also Read: Did you know? ‘Ari Ari’ from Dhurandhar: The Revenge trailer traces back to Bombay Rockers’ 2007 hit

The post UAE-GCC faces Bollywood blackout on Eid for FIRST time since Covid; Dhurandhar and Border 2’s ‘ban’, Toxic and Jana Nayagan’s postponement, The RajaSaab’s debacle cause losses of nearly USD 15 million appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

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