Author-columnist Shobhaa De on Friday shared her views on Dhurandhar 2, saying that she does not think it’s a masterpiece, despite “sort of” enjoying it.

Directed by Aditya Dhar, the Ranveer Singh-led spy action thriller hit theatres globally on March 19.

Comparing it to the first instalment, Shobhaa admitted she did not feel the same level of excitement this time around.

“I have watched Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Let me give you the good news first. I wasn't bored, it's four hours. I didn't fall asleep and I sort of enjoyed it. But I'm not ecstatic or excited like I was when I watched the first one. I thought the first one was much layered; it had psychological profiles, it generated anxiety, suspense, and you wanted to know why the people were doing what they were doing,” she said in an Instagram video posted on Tuesday.

“Maybe it was the newness then, in this one there was a bit of a deja vu. I could almost predict what's going to happen next which is never good. Good cinema is about keeping you tense and making you wonder. People have called it a masterpiece. Sorry, it's not a masterpiece, at least not for me,” she added.

While Shobhaa had mixed feelings about the film, she singled out Arjun Rampal and Sanjay Dutt for their performances, noting that they stood out more than the film’s lead.

“The standout performances for me in Dhurandhar 2 were two of them: Arjun Rampal, he chewed up everyone, including Ranveer. Sorry Ranveer, but he did. And Sanjay Dutt, who was impeccable. There was not one false note in his performance. He was menacing, unpredictable. He was just the presence, he was in charge,” she further said.

She also pointed out the absence of Akshaye Khanna’s character, Rehman Dakait, as a major drawback.

“You were so missed Akshaye Khanna. Without Rehman Dakait, the style was not there. The wonderful impromptu dance was not there, there was a version of the Baloch dance, but it was nowhere near that one,” she said, referring to the viral FA9LA dance number from the first film.

Shobhaa went on to share what she described as the “bad news” for the makers, highlighting a lack of sustained engagement among viewers.

“Yes, it was all packed, but there were several people scrolling and losing interest and coming back to watch the film which is not the best sign. Not the sign of a super-duper, engrossing, keeping-you-on-the-edge kind of a movie,” she said.

“I didn't honestly think much of the script this time. The music again predictable... This had no Ramba Ho Ho Ho, though I loved the way Rasputin was used. But there was no Shararat... There was no glamour at all... The jingoism was underlined in this but it was balanced,” she said.

The film relied too heavily on explanations as if it was “tutoring school kids on how baddies operate”, Shobhaa remarked in the caption.

She further criticised the writing and execution, calling out its reliance on familiar tropes.

“The dialogues were obvious and spelling things out for dummies. Instead of letting the subtext push the narrative. Too many tropes and cliches. Action for the sake of action. And Rohit Shetty inspired cars blowing up set pieces at regular intervals,” she said.

“Ranveer's hair was salon - wild and carefully sprayed into place even during the bloodiest fight scenes. A couple of neat twists - one just before the interval, and the final one at the end, were clever. But someone tell me what exactly happened in Pathankot during the teary finale ?? Anti climax !!!!” she added.

When Shobhaa had reviewed the first Dhurandhar film in December 2025, her response was far more positive, especially towards Ranveer’s performance, while she was less impressed by Akshaye Khanna at the time.

“As Ranveer says - come on, come on - the restraint, how controlled. When he could so easily have strutted, done the whole swag thing, put in a song for himself, done some hook step, romanced the girl... Ranveer, I thought, chewed up the entire film,” she said at the time.

“I liked Akshaye a lot. I can't say I went nuts over his performance. He is a superb actor, but because of the overkill - that one song, that one step and all of that - maybe I expected much more than what I actually got,” her previous review further explained.

Dhurandhar 2 also features R Madhavan, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Danish Pandor and Gaurav Gera in key roles.