Screen:

Dushman had opened well but started sliding from the very second day. The film surprisingly has not been appreciated in places such as CI, UP and Gujarat. It fared best in Mumbai, where it mustered a fairly decent 70 % collections. It seems the public response, and the story just doesnt seem to move. The film’s main drawback is its climax. Kajol takes training from ex-major Sanjay Dutt to take revenge on the villain but in the end its Sanjay who rescues her and all that Kajol does is pull the trigger on her sisters rapist and murderer. As film was advertised as having a lot of woman power the climax has been a let down for the ladies.

Indiaworld:

(1st Week): A well-directed film with an excellent performance by Kajol Dushman got a decent opening but then the collections declined later in the week. The audience usually rejects women-oriented films where women take revenge. Though critically acclaimed, the film has been rejected by the masses.
(2nd Week): Kajol double-role-starrer Dushman also failed to glue the audience to the seats. The performances of Kajol and Ashutosh Rana have been praised but the film is a flop. The film has been granted tax exemption in Maharashtra and so this might benefit the film.
(3rd Week): Pooja Bhatt's Dushman is not a hit at the box office. However the collections ofthe film is better in Mumbai than other cities because of the tax-free tag. The collection of the film is 60% in the third week in Mumbai.

Pooja Bhatt Box Office Analysis:

Are you disappointed by the box-office performance of Dushman?
At the very outset, I was very clear about my market, about the audience I was catering to. I knew Dushman was a `city' film.
And who says it hasn't done well? In its ninth week, nine prints of Dushman are circulating in Bombay. Duplicate had just two prints out in its ninth week. Let me clarify that no one has lost money on Dushman. Now that it's tax-free, the collections have picked up further.