At the outset, let’s address the ginormous elephant in the room. Dhurandhar doesn’t feel as long as its runtime — three hours and 34 minutes — made it out to be. The credit for that goes to the fact that the Aditya Dhar-directed film hits the ground running and despite the protracted setup of time and space, it manages to keep its pace consistent, often escalating to breakneck speed when matters spill over into high-stakes territory. ‘Break’ and ‘neck’ are the operative words here.
In Dhurandhar, revenge is a dish best served bloody. With a side of fractured limbs, ruptured organs, punctured eyes and bashed-in brains. Throats erupting into fountains of blood and body parts flying around like paper planes are par for the course. The action is visceral and quite often gratuitous. After gauging the vibe of the film and watching its unambiguous trailer, that is something one goes in prepared for.
Described in the disclaimer as “a work of fiction” inspired by “incredible true events”, Dhurandhar spans a period of nine years, kicking off with the negotiation phase of the IC-814 hijacking, that introduces
R. Madhavan’s Ajay Sanyal, aka “Charioteer of Karma”, the head honcho of Indian intelligence and a role clearly inspired by national security advisor Ajit Doval (if not anything, the receding/ receded hairline is a dead giveaway). Two years later, the attack on Parliament in broad daylight compels India to launch a mission called “Operation Dhurandhar”, with its covert agents rooting themselves deep in the Pakistani underworld to not only unearth intel and foil future terror attacks but also work in weeding out the enemy for good.
It is in these circumstances that we meet Hamza Ali Mazari — too little Ranveer Singh, too much hair — who makes his way to Lyari in Karachi, a Baloch stronghold. Looming large over Lyari as both gangster and messiah — with the lines between the two blurring all the time — is Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna). With Hamza, labelled “Wrath of God”, managing to not only infiltrate Rehman’s gang but also gain access to his close circle (a little too easily in what is clearly a contrived plot point), the ground is laid for the other principal characters — Arjun Rampal’s ISI boss Iqbal (aka “Angel of Death”) and renegade cop Aslam Chaudhary or “The Djinn”, played by Sanjay Dutt — to blaze in.
In terms of character, almost everyone is in fifty shades of grey territory here — including sly and opportunistic politician Jameel Jamali (Rakesh Bedi) — with the sole exception being Yalina (Sara Arjun), Jamali’s daughter, that Hamza finds himself increasingly drawn to.
Rooted in the geo-political unrest in Pakistan — infighting in the country is rampant, with Balochistan rising to demand its own — and the imminent impact it has on India directly and indirectly, Dhurandhar sometimes runs loose and often quite long, but packs in ample doses of mystery, intrigue, thrills, action, diabolique and dialogue-baazi, to keep its wheels churning.
The world of Dhurandhar is peopled with seemingly alpha men running amok with guns and grenades, with the screenplay — written by director Dhar — attempting to afford deserving screen time to its primary players. It is Singh and Khanna who call the shots in terms of footage, with Dutt (whose presence is billed as a “special appearance”), Rampal and Madhavan showing up at key moments.
Dhurandhar is not an easy film to watch. It is not meant to be. Bursting at its seams with too many characters and plot points, the film also does a confusing see-saw in terms of drawing the line between fact and fiction. Almost all of its characters are drawn from life, but the writing directly names some while choosing to adopt fictional titles for the others. It is a move that remains unexplained.
At the heart of Dhurandhar is its powerful music, with its background score often emerging to rescue the film whenever its pace flags. Shashwat Sachdev — whose breakout project was Dhar’s debut film Uri — is clearly having a good year and he crowns it with a pulsating score that matches, beat for beat, the action and emotion that plays out on screen. Where Sachdev truly excels in is the film’s background score, that complements, and often enhances, its moods and moments. That includes a no-holds-barred shootout at a birthday party choreographed to Usha Uthup’s Ramba ho, an adrenaline-pumping car chase to the beats of Asha Bhosle (and R.D. Burman) going Monica, o my darling, and a spectacular entry scene and gun battle that plays out to Hasan Jahangir’s ’80s subcontinental hit Hawa hawa. The film’s already popular title track is employed at a pivotal moment that works in amplifying its appeal. Shivkumar Panicker’s mostly crisp editing choices and Vikash Nowlakha’s sweeping cinematography are the other wins.
Dhurandhar doesn’t resort to outright jingoism, but it does weave in elements that Dhar’s films are known to have, including mutilating certain aspects of the past to mirror the politics of the present. When Sanyal tells a colleague: “Kuch Hindustani hi Hindustan ke sabse bade dushman hain; Pakistan toh doosre number par aata hain”, you know the exact direction the film is pointing a finger at.
With a rich ensemble of actors, it is but expected that the highlight of Dhurandhar will be its performances. While Madhavan easily slips into his role and quickly makes it his own, Arjun Rampal is devilishly good in the scenes that he appears in. When he mouths a line like: “Hamam mein utarna hain toh nanga hona padega” with insidious menace you know that this man means business. Dutt is, to quote a cliche, deadly in his brief appearance, with Rakesh Bedi, cast against type, excelling as a slimy, conniving politician. Sara Arjun makes an assured debut but her chemistry with Ranveer is almost non-existent.
The scene-stealer, by a long mile, is Akshaye Khanna. The actor, whose career 2.0 has been peppered with many a memorable part, gets it right this time too, that swagger of a walk and that steely gaze being enough to justify Rehman Dakait’s time on screen, as well as to keep asking for more.
Which brings us to the big comeback. Returning to the big screen more than two years after Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Ranveer Singh is present in almost every frame. The versatile actor sinks his teeth into the part, but the character is unidimensional and with not enough back story — except the revelation of Hamza’s real name in the post credits — the viewer will find it tough to empathise or even root for him. But with the promise that we will see more of Ranveer as Jaskirat Singh Rangi in Dhurandhar Part Two, we are only warming up. March 19, 2026 is the date.
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