Border 2 blocked in Gulf? Sunny Deol starrer faces overseas setback amid box office hype

Border 2, starring Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty, is gearing up for its January 23 release with impressive box-office momentum. Advance bookings across India and overseas markets reflect strong demand, with nearly 2 lakh tickets sold and collections touching ₹5.75 crore, according to Sacnilk. Trade expects advances to cross ₹10 crore by the end of the final booking day.

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Gulf Release Hits a Snag

Just as anticipation peaks, the Anurag Singh-directed war drama has reportedly encountered trouble in key overseas territories. Reports suggest that, much like Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, Border 2 may not secure a release across Gulf countries, dealing a blow to its international rollout.

Why Border 2 May Not Release in the Gulf?

As per a Bollywood Hungama report, "Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE will not be releasing Border 2. By now, it's given that films perceived as having 'anti-Pakistan' content don't get a release in this belt. Yet, the team of Border 2 did make an attempt, and sadly, their attempts proved futile. One day is left for release, and the hope is still there that they pass the film, though the possibility seems remote."

Makers Unfazed by the Ban

A source further revealed, “Recently, even Dhurandhar was not allowed a release in the same region. However, the makers of Border 2 are not losing sleep over it as they are aware that if the film manages to strike a chord with the moviegoers, the sky would be the limit in terms of its collections. Even Dhurandhar excelled at the ticket window, and the money lost due to no release in the UAE/GCC belt didn't matter. Hopefully, Border 2 will go the same way.”

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Lessons from Dhurandhar’s Gulf Ban

Despite strong global performance, Dhurandhar faced bans in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, reportedly suffering an overseas loss of ₹90 crore (USD 10 million). Its overseas distributor Pranab Kapadia told CNN-News18 that the Gulf ban caused a USD 10 million setback, noting the region’s critical role in boosting Indian action films.