Aditya Dhar’s franchise ‘Dhurandhar’ enjoyed a record-breaking run at the box office, ending its theatrical journey with a worldwide gross of over Rs 3300 crore. Helmed by Ranveer Singh, the action spectacle emerged as the second highest grossing Indian film of all time, trailing only Aamir Khan’s ‘Dangal’. While the film’s record remains intact for now, trade analyst and exhibitor Vishek Chauhan believes that Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming epic ‘Ramayana’ has the potential to surpass it.Chauhan reflected on the massive success of ‘Dhurandhar’ and credited its broad commercial appeal for resonating with audiences across demographics.“Whenever you make a film with all the emotions, every element, with all the genres, you reap great results, case in point – Dhurandhar. It sits high. It has all the masala ingredients, all together. Dhurandhar is amazing, amazing. People are saying that the second part is weaker than the first part, but the second is classic commercial filmmaking, taken a few notches higher,” he said in an interview with Siddharth Kannan. Praising Aditya Dhar’s performance, Chauhan said the film reminded him of the great entertainers of yesteryear.“It’s great. When I saw it, I knew the film was going to break records, it’s a fire. It’s unstoppable, and you can’t tell when it’s going to stop. It’s got a big feel. Rakesh Roshan and Manmohan Desai. There is a satisfaction in killing the villain too, the audience gets catharsis from such things.However, despite his praise for ‘Dhurandhar’, Chauhan believes that ‘Ramayana’ is the one film that will set a new benchmark at the box office.“The buzz is great, it’s a subject that’s very close to people’s hearts. The way Ranbir looks and the kind of star cast the film has – including Sunny DeolYash, the director is good too. So, I have no doubt that the film will break records. And if that movie lands, you will see it break Dhurandhar’s record. The range of that film is crazy. People come to theaters from everywhere, even from villages,” he said.According to Chauhan, the film’s potential is beyond the usual box-office expectations, if it connects with the audience emotionally.“It works on a different level. It has to land properly and connect with the audience. Like Adipurush which couldn’t connect with people. It missed the mark. But still, it had a phenomenal opening, about Rs 35 crore in the Hindi language. So, I feel the sky is the limit for Ramayana. Knit pickers can continue to pick VFX and other things, we will continue to do our business.”Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios and DNEG, ‘Ramayana’ features Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. Conceived as a two-part cinematic saga, the first installment is slated to release around Diwali on November 6.Reportedly mounted on a combined budget of approximately Rs 4,000 crore, the mythological epic has already created a lot of excitement among the audience, with the first teaser garnering widespread attention and sparking discussions about its scale, cast and visual effects.