India, Nov. 12 -- When Dhurandhar The Revenge did a hat-trick of Rs.100-crore days at the Indian box office earlier this year, it was seen as an oddity, an anomaly. Trade pundits argued that the combination of high ticket prices and hype would be hard to emulate. Ramayana proved them wrong in just eight months. On its first Monday, the Nitesh Tiwari film minted Rs.107.50 crore in India.

The two films have set and solidified this new standard for what a Hindi film can and should make at the domestic box office to be a red-letter day. It is remarkable that just over a decade ago, this figure was considered good enough for a film's lifetime run. But the evolution of Hindi cinema's box-office fortunes has always been that rapid. This evoluti...