Indian audiences bought 1,800 crore worth of tickets for ‘Dhurandhar 2’. Three weeks later, viewers in the US and Canada are streaming it on Netflix. India gets it on June 4.
Image Source: Netflix
Dhurandhar 2 on OTT: ‘Dhurandhar’ released in December 2025. Netflix paid Rs 85 crore for its digital rights. The film streamed on the platform from January 30, 2026, and trended at number one in 22 countries.
That deal no longer applies.
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‘Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge’, which crossed Rs 1,791 crore at the worldwide box office, has split its OTT rights between two platforms. JioHotstar holds India streaming rights. Netflix holds the international rights.
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This means if you are in India and you subscribed to Netflix partly to watch this franchise, you will not find Part 2 there. Not yet, at least.
JioHotstar reportedly paid Rs 150 crore for the India streaming rights to ‘Dhurandhar 2’. That is nearly double what Netflix paid for Part 1.
The logic is simple: Part 1 was a hit. Part 2 was expected to be bigger. Platforms bid accordingly. JioHotstar won.
Netflix, which lost the India rights, did get something: the international streaming window, under the title ‘Dhurandhar The Revenge (Raw & Undekha)’. That version went live on May 14-15, 2026, for viewers in the US, Canada, and several other territories.
India’s JioHotstar premiere is set for June 4, 2026, a full three weeks after the international Netflix release.
The gap created a predictable problem.
The Netflix international cut went live on May 14. Indian fans who know how to use a VPN accessed it within hours. Scenes that the CBFC had cut from the theatrical version, which didn’t make it to Indian screens, started circulating on social media.
JioHotstar, which paid Rs 150 crore for exclusive India rights, watched its premium content leak before it even had a release date confirmed.
The platform announced June 4 shortly after. But by then, the damage was already done.
Netflix titled its international cut ‘Raw & Undekha’, which translates loosely to “raw and unseen.”
This is not just marketing. The theatrical version of Dhurandhar 2 received an ‘A’ certificate from the CBFC, which required cuts to some violent scenes and dialogue. The international Netflix version carries those scenes.
JioHotstar has announced it will also stream what it calls the “Raw & Undekha” version for India. Director Aditya Dhar confirmed this. But whether it includes the same content as the Netflix international cut, or a slightly different version, has not been officially clarified.
JioHotstar is also planning a 30-minute pre-show on June 4 at 7 pm, before the film begins streaming. It will include cast conversations and behind-the-scenes footage. The film becomes available for regular subscribers on June 5.
While the OTT confusion has dominated headlines, there is a separate legal issue sitting in the background.
Filmmaker Rajiv Rai, through his production company Trimurti Films, sued the makers of ‘Dhurandhar 2’ in Delhi High Court. His claim: the film’s climax uses the song ‘Tirchi Topiwale’, originally from his 1989 film ‘Tridev’, without permission.
The remixed version used in ‘Dhurandhar 2’ is titled ‘Rang De Laal’, composed by Shashwat Sachdev.
Rai told DNA: “This is a theft. When you use the song in another film after altering it, that is double theft.”
He demanded removal of the song, financial compensation, and a public apology.
The court initially asked both parties to try mediation. That failed. The case moved to trial, with a hearing posted for May 8. No final verdict has been announced yet.
It is unclear whether the OTT version of ‘Dhurandhar 2’, on either platform, will carry the disputed song. Trimurti Films’ opposition to the song’s continued use remains on record.
The ‘Dhurandhar 2’ situation is not accidental. It is a preview of how studios will handle big releases going forward.
When a film earns Rs 1,800 crore worldwide, its streaming rights become a bidding war. Studios are now splitting those rights by territory to extract maximum value. India is one territory. The rest of the world is another.
Netflix lost the India window for Part 2 despite having Part 1. JioHotstar paid a premium to secure it. Netflix pivoted to international rights.
The result: Indian audiences, who made the film what it is at the box office, have to wait the longest to watch it legally on OTT. And even then, they cannot access it on the same platform they used for Part 1.
For viewers, this means your subscription choice now matters in ways it did not before. The streaming landscape in India is no longer one platform getting all rights to a franchise. It is territory deals, competing platforms, and delayed windows.
If ‘Dhurandhar 3’ happens, and Ameesha Patel confirmed it is in the works, expect the bidding war to get even messier.
‘Dhurandhar 2 premieres on JioHotstar on June 4, 2026. The international version is currently streaming on Netflix in select countries.’
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