Awarapan 2 success EXCLUSIVE: Emraan Hashmi, Vishesh Bhatt laud Pen Marudhar’s theatrical distribution strategy: "They put their might behind the film; understood scale and importance..."

Pen Marudhar has once again delivered a defining box office moment with Vishesh Films’ Awarapan 2, which is emerging as one of the biggest theatrical successes of the year.

The film has registered the third-highest opening weekend of 2026 and has already become Emraan Hashmi’s highest-grossing film to date, reaffirming the strength of both the content and its theatrical execution.

The success of Awarapan 2 carries added significance given the legacy of the original film.

Converting a cult property into a contemporary box office phenomenon required not just strong content, but also a distribution strategy capable of maximising reach, scale and audience recall.

Pen Marudhar’s execution across territories has played a key role in ensuring the film’s strong opening and sustained momentum.

The collaboration with Mukesh Bhatt, Emraan Hashmi, Vishesh Bhatt and Vishesh Films once again highlights the deep trust producers continue to place in Pen Marudhar when it comes to high-stakes theatrical releases.

Producer Vishesh Bhatt said, "It was important for us to have a distribution partner who understood the legacy of Awarapan and had the conviction to take its sequel to audiences at scale.

Sanjay Chatar and the Pen Marudhar team's understanding of the theatrical market, their relationships across the exhibition fraternity, and the way they have executed the release of the film in India have helped deliver the film's success at the box office.

We are very thankful for this partnership." Emraan Hashmi stated, “The audience’s love for me and this film has been truly overwhelming.

It was absolutely essential that we come back with great content, and Vishesh Films has done complete justice to the legacy of Awarapan.

Pen Marudhar, too, understood the scale and importance of the film and put their might behind it, ensuring that Awarapan 2 reached the right audience.

The result has been nothing short of an absolute success.” For the trade, this success is also a continuation of Pen Marudhar’s long-standing track record as one of the leading distribution houses in the country, with a portfolio that includes major theatrical successes such as Jawan (2023), Bhooth Bangla (2026), Chhaava (2025), Stree 2 (2024), Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), RRR (2022), Dream Girl (2023) and Dunki (2023), among several others.

At the core of this consistency is the confidence of producers and studios who continue to partner with Pen Marudhar for wide-scale theatrical releases.

The company’s strength lies in its ability to combine market intelligence, exhibitor relationships and execution discipline to optimise box office outcomes.