Rating : ⭐⭐
Genre: Action
Year: 2025
Running time: 3 hours 32 minutes
Director: Aditya Dhar
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sara Arjun, Sanjay Dutt, Rakesh Bedi
Kid rating: PG
I recently watched the Bollywood film Dhurandar, starring Ranveer Singh, and my reaction turned out to be quite different from most people I know. While friends and family seem to love the movie – some even watching it multiple times – I came away pretty underwhelmed.
An Intriguing Premise
At its core, Dhurandar has a compelling premise. The story follows a RAW agent, Haza ali Mazari (Ranveer Singh), who infiltrates Pakistan as a spy, embedding himself within the notorious gangs of Lyaari. His mission is to gain their trust, build influence within their ranks, and secretly relay intelligence back to the Indian authorities.
The film is loosely inspired by real-life events, and occasionally weaves factual anecdotes and historical details into the narrative. Despite this interesting foundation, the film itself felt extremely dramatized and over-the-top to me.
Style Over Substance
Despite the interesting premise, the film leans heavily into dramatization. The storytelling often feels exaggerated and over-the-top, prioritizing spectacle over nuance. Instead of focusing on the tension and strategy of espionage, the film devotes most of its time to gang conflicts and violent confrontations. While action can certainly be a part of a spy thriller, here it dominates the narrative to such an extent that the espionage angle—the most interesting part—becomes almost secondary.
Overall, I wasn’t impressed with the tone or structure of the film. It didn’t feel particularly tight or focused.
The Violence Factor
Another element that stood out was the level of violence. And the violence is intense. It isn’t just ordinary action-film violence—it’s extremely graphic. The movie features gory scenes with blood spurting, heads exploding, and exaggerated depictions of killing. While it may not reach the same level as the film Animal, it is still very violent and visually graphic.
Characterization and Gender Dynamics
The film also embraces a very traditional “alpha male” archetype, leaning almost into a kind of toxic machismo. Ranveer Singh’s character is presented as hyper-masculine, dominant, and nearly mythic in his abilities.
Meanwhile, the female characters are largely sidelined. The most prominent female role is his love interest, Yalina Jamali (Sara Arjun)—a ditzy 19-year-old who is the daughter of a politician. There is a significant age gap between the two characters, with the hero appearing to be in his late 30s or early 40s. Hamza may or may not genuinely love her—it’s unclear—but he certainly uses her. She, on the other hand, is deeply in love with him, defies her father, and even provides information against her own family. The role lacked depth and agency (to put it mildly).
The Good
Dhurandar has some very good music – its the best thing about the film!
The cast is apt. Ranveer Singh is a talented actor, and he does a fair job. The film also features Akshaye Khanna as one of the gang leaders, Rehman Dakait. His presence adds some gravitas to the cast, though the film’s focus on spectacle over character development limits what even strong actors can do with their roles. Then there is Sanjay Dutt who looks ferocious as the SP of Lyari. Rakesh Bedi plays a wily politician and the father of Hamza’s paramour.
The Moment That Summed It Up
There’s one scene early in the film that perfectly captured my feelings about it. During a shootout meant to establish the hero’s dominance, the camera shifts into slow motion as he dramatically whips his head around—his shoulder-length hair swirling through the air in slo-mo.
For many viewers, it’s probably meant to be a “hero moment.” For me, it epitomized the film’s exaggerated tone.
Looking Ahead to Part Two
Despite my mixed feelings about the first installment, I’m still curious about the sequel. Part 2 lands in theatres this Wednesday, and I’m hoping it leans more heavily into the espionage elements rather than the stylized violence and macho posturing.
Kidwise: Intensely violent.
