Dhurandhar (2025) – 8/10 – An enthralling, power-packed Bollywood action
Overall
Dhurandhar is an action drama based on the lead-up to one of the worst terrorist attacks in history—Mumbai on November 26, 2008. Although the movie draws inspiration from true events, most of the movie is fiction. For this review, I’m treating this as fiction to bypass questions about facts or propaganda. I leave that up to the readers to research and Google for themselves. Otherwise, the story here is gripping, dark, exciting, and captivating. The stakes are high for each character pulled in different directions by personal, group, or national interests. Writer-director Aditya Dhar had a tough job: maintain subtlety for an ambitious thriller project with many players and moving parts. The topic involving terrorism is sensitive and requires meticulous buildup to prevent becoming overly dramatized masala magic. It’s easy to overshoot into excess land where the flamboyant hero flies over multiple cars, screaming profanities, annihilating the villain in the last minutes after a three-hour melodramatic buildup, and walking into the sunset with the heroine in his arms. This film avoids the over-the-top masala magic Bollywood is known for. While I cannot speak in-depth without experiencing the second part, I think Dhar has pulled off his goals thus far.
Would I recommend this?
Yes, I recommend this. I think it’s an excellent action flick worth experiencing once, but with little re-watch value. The entertainment hooks you, and the pacing takes you on a ride. It’s far from technically perfect and might require cutting a few unnecessary scenes. The playtime is long, even if you skip ahead through the songs (they’re woven into the story, making it difficult to skip). When I watch Indian movies, I avoid theaters and fast-forward song sequences to avoid runtimes of 3-4 hours. It’s best to skip songs and add to a music playlist later. The violence and gore aren’t kid-friendly. My rating is 8/10.
Plot (spoiler-free)
As part of Operation Dhurandhar, Indian intelligence agency R&AW sends an agent to infiltrate a terrorist network in Lyari, Pakistan, led by gangster Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna). Agent Hamza Ali Mazari (Ranveer Singh) must climb the ranks to gather intel and destroy Dakait’s group from within. Along the way, he must balance keeping his cover and gaining the trust of criminal masterminds, overcoming politics, and juggling complicated allegiances and relationships. Superintendent of Police Choudhary Aslam (Sanjay Dutt) has also been on Dakait’s trail for years. Split into eight chapters, this movie depicts the events leading up to the Mumbai attacks, which Dakait’s terrorist network orchestrated.
Interesting Tidbits
The film included seven hours of footage, and director-writer Aditya Dhar believed he couldn’t condense that into a single film in post-production. They decided to divide it into two installments. It took Dhar over four years to write the script. Singh’s role required him to lose substantial weight for the initial story stage, then gain muscle mass for the latter parts of the film. The filmmakers shot the scenes in order to show his physical body’s evolution. Khanna often employs method acting in his works, which he did here. Dhurandhar set records as the most pirated movie in Pakistan, where its government banned Indian movies. A crew built a complex 6-acre set of Lyari in Bangkok, Thailand in 20 days.
Technicals
Dhurandhar stands as one of Bollywood’s stronger works, certainly one of the best in years. The components that stood out to me were the performances, script, directing, the cinematography, and atmosphere. The acting was top-notch, especially by the headliners Khanna and Singh. While Khanna’s character is the picture of composed tranquility, Singh’s is a whirlwind of passionate determination. Sanjay Dutt held his restraint in between with his versatile experience in such roles. Thanks to meticulous character development and depiction, we feel as if we’re witnessing an actual story unfold. The characters are memorable and more than mere eye-candy. Too often, Indian movies focus more on star power than on story. Here, the action-driven, tense narrative is enjoyable and never makes you check the runtime. You don’t know what’s next, and the suspense holds your attention. I can’t complain about the editing either, which is usually my frustration with Bollywood. The producers practiced restraint, but it may warrant removing a few scenes to get the runtime near three hours. Not everything should be unnecessarily extended. I was glad there weren’t multiple 5-10 minute unrelated song sequences added. The climax briefly approaches over-the-top territory and appears drawn out, requiring tighter finish.
*Obtained trivia facts from IMDb’s trivia page and plot/basic history/name information from Wiki
