Just like Dhurandhar” became a catchphrase for the hectic, nail-biting work that went on till the last minute for Border 2. Special effects threw them off schedule, “Just like Dhurandhar”. Which prevented a pre-release screening, “Just like Dhurandhar”.
The chant worked as B2 got the bumper benefit of a four-day Republic Day opening, coinciding with Dhurandhar winding up its triumphant eight-week run in the theatres before it leapt onto Netflix at 12am on Friday.
B2 provided temporary relief to the film industry, which was in a quandary over how to find footfalls once Dhurandhar had made its final bow. Comedian Kapil Sharma’s Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 found no pyaar and Vir Das’ Happy Patel made nobody happy. Least of all, producer Aamir Khan. Kartik Aaryan’s weirdly titled Tu Meri Main Tera... was a no-show. Sriram Raghavan’s war film focussed so much on Pakistani goodness that it lost sight of the core story of an Ikkis-year-old Indian soldier’s martyrdom and tanked. Aanand L. Rai’s well-directed but toxic Tere Ishk Mein made a profit but was nowhere in the blockbuster league.
The ray of hope came with Sunny Deol’s Strepsils-requiring Jat energy on the battlefield juxtaposed with a Gurbani-in-a-gurdwara softness as an affectionate husband and grieving father. Dhurandhar organically gave way as more shows began to be allotted to B2.
There was a tendency to put Dhurandhar and B2 under the same label of “patriotic cinema”. They do share the common motivator of Pakistanis calling Indians the “darpok quom”, a taunt that incenses our side to set up a spy network in Dhurandhar while it stirs Sunny, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty into hitting back with patriotic ferocity.
There is another similarity between the two films. Young musician Shashwat Sachdev audaciously remixes old numbers like Na to karwan ki talash, Hawa hawa and Piya tu ab toh aa jaa to come up with a cheeky, fresh sound in Dhurandhar, completing the album with a melodious new Gehra hua and a pulsating Dhurandhar in the background. In a totally different style, the compilation of B2 also mixes the nostalgia of Sandese aate hain with a new Mitti ke bete that retains the flavour of the original Border album and throbs with an operatic “Hindustan” in the background.
In every other way, Dhurandhar and B2 are like fraternal siblings. Aditya Dhar’s clever and stylish spy film attempts with thunderous success a risky new grammar in storytelling. Anurag Singh’s war film B2 pays in-your-face homage to J.P. Dutta’s 1997 film, an unabashed calibration of chest-thumping valour, heart-tugging family ties and logic-defying religious fervour.
Tracking both films is Suniel Shetty, who played the real-life BSF officer Bhairon Singh Rathore in JP’s film. The real Bhairon Singh passed away only in 2022. “For creative reasons, Bhairon Singh died in Border,” Suniel recalled. “I feel if he hadn’t been shown as dead, maybe I could’ve had a fleeting role in Border 2.”
Suniel has reason to wish he’d featured in some way in Dhurandhar too. A while ago, he had been signed up for The Immortal Ashwatthama, an hi-tech film Aditya had to shelve in his quest for excellence. Suniel couldn’t help wishing that if not Ashwatthama, Aditya had fit him somewhere in Dhurandhar.
Meanwhile, as B2 slows down after the initial enthusiasm, the spotlight swings back to Dhar’s Dhurandhar: The Revenge in March. Will Akshaye Khanna, the heartthrob of the first part, return in some way? Will Vicky Kaushal make a surprise entry? Will the hearty earnings of Vicky’s Chhaava and Dhar’s Dhurandhar attract the funds required to revive their Ashwatthama?
The answers stay as closely wrapped as an Ajit Doval file.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author