At the NDTV World Summit 2026, Kriti Sanon raised a question Hindi cinema keeps circling: why don’t female-led action films get the same financial backing as male-driven spectacles such as Pathaan and Dhurandhar? Her argument has reopened a box office debate in which the receipts are not all on one side.
The numbers that frame the debate
The lifetime worldwide figures behind the conversation show the scale of the gap.
- Pathaan (Shah Rukh Khan): ₹1,055 crore worldwide
- Dhurandhar (Ranveer Singh): over ₹1,300 crore worldwide
- Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (Kangana Ranaut): ₹142 crore worldwide
- Alpha (Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, Yash Raj Films): ₹99.10 crore worldwide
Sanon argued that producers routinely spend heavily on male-led entertainers to make them grand for theatres, while compelling female-led stories are often kept smaller. She was careful not to claim that swapping a male star for a female actor would automatically deliver equal collections; storytelling, audience support and producer confidence all mattered, she said.
Why Alpha is the sharpest data point
Alpha matters because it already tested part of her argument. Unlike a modest female-centric drama, it sat inside Yash Raj Films’ established spy universe with franchise recognition, prominent casting and production scale. It still collected ₹99.10 crore globally, a reminder that scale and franchise alone cannot guarantee turnout. One underperforming experiment does not set a permanent ceiling, but it does explain why financiers hesitate.
The counter-examples: Crew and Gangubai Kathiawadi
Audiences do reward female-led films when the subject and packaging connect. Sanon’s own Crew, with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Tabu, took ₹151.63 crore worldwide against a reported ₹75 crore budget. Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi did even better internationally at ₹211.50 crore. Neither was a conventional mass-action spectacle; Crew relied on ensemble comedy and entertainment value, while Gangubai leaned on character-driven storytelling and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s reputation. Neither figure proves a female-led spy thriller can reach ₹1,000 crore, but both challenge the idea that buyers stay away without a male superstar.
The cycle holding back event-scale bets
For producers, the real problem is that a ₹200-300 crore action film must be justified by theatrical, satellite, digital and other rights income. Male superstars arrive with opening-weekend histories that make those projections easier; female-led action has fewer comparable precedents, so each big bet is more uncertain. That creates the very cycle Sanon is questioning: without major investment, event-scale openings remain rare, and without those openings, producers stay cautious.
Breaking the cycle needs a compelling story, effective marketing, strong distribution and a theatrical experience audiences consider worth the big screen. Sanon’s argument is less a promise of a guaranteed ₹1,000 crore female-led blockbuster than a request to create the conditions where one could emerge.
What to watch next
If a studio commits an event-scale budget to a female-led action title, the opening weekend will be the tell. A strong opening with a story-driven hold would give financiers the precedent the genre currently lacks; a weak one would reinforce Alpha’s lesson. Either way, the summit comments have put the question in sharper terms than before: not whether a woman can lead a blockbuster, but whether the industry will fund enough attempts to find out.
Source: Sacnilk
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