Director Shazia Iqbal On Audience Calling Dhadak 2 A ‘Disaster’: ‘It Was Heartbreaking’

Dhadak 2, the romantic drama starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri, released on August 1, 2025, and initially underperformed at the box office, with many calling it a “disaster.” However, the film

has gained significant popularity and acclaim following its release on OTT giant Netflix. Directed by Shazia Iqbal and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, it won audiences over, particularly for its storytelling addressing social issues such as caste and class discrimination in contemporary India.

Now, during a recent interview, Shazia opened up about the audience’s initial reaction to Dhadak 2, calling it a ‘disaster’ and its revival on the OTT platforms.

Shazia Iqbal On Dhadak 2 OTT Release

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Shazia talked about the film’s reaction after its release on OTT and said, “I don’t have many followers (on Instagram). Still, I get roughly 20 DMs per hour. And Siddhant called me last night and said that this felt more significant than the theatre release. And, sure, it appears that the reach is wider.”

Furthermore, she acknowledges that the film is reaching many people who did not have access to it before. “Our film was not distributed properly, so most people outside never saw it. People are watching it from many locations, including the United States, Mexico, and Japan. And it was among the top search results on UK Netflix yesterday,” she said.

Shazia Iqbal On Audience Marking Dhadak 2 As Disaster

According to the director, Dhadak 2 suffered due to the narrative around it, since people began calling it a flop or a “box office disaster” immediately after its release. “I can tell you one thing: anyone who claims or projects that ‘we know what works’ is a complete scam. They don’t know,” she shared.

The reason behind Dhadak 2’s low box office collection could be its clash with Ajay Devgn’s Son of Sardaar 2 and the massive responses to two previous releases, Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda’s Saiyaara and the animated mythological drama, Mahavatar Narsimha.

Speaking about the stiff box office competition, Shazia said, “We were entirely between big projects. To be honest, I don’t think we’ve done badly in business. However, if you look on the internet, they will say, ‘Oh, Dhadak 2 is a disaster, a flop’.”

“Honestly, it’s a little heartbreaking. It was made in a very massy, commercial, and entertaining style. If I had made the same film with the intention of submitting it to Berlin or Cannes (film festivals), I would have approached the tone differently. However, it is incredibly difficult to create a terrific film while also being mainstream. So we embraced all of the tropes and added songs while maintaining the story’s integrity,” Shazia added.

Not just this, the filmmaker also said that many of her industry friends and journalists told her that the film will achieve cult status on OTT. She said, “Everyone predicted that this film would do well again on OTT. Friends and film journalists have informed me that it will someday become a cult film.”

More About Dhadak 2

The film is an official Hindi remake of the 2018 Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal, directed by Mari Selvaraj. It serves as a spiritual sequel to the 2018 Hindi film Dhadak, which was an adaptation of the Marathi film Sairat.