(Movie Review) "Dhurandhar" (2025)

By Vani P Nair -

                                               (Movie review) "Dhurandhar" (2025) 

The two-part film series, Dhurandhar, released in December 2025, read like a palimpsest to me where the filmmaker and his editor have dexterously woven together the raw footages and audio clips of the parliament attack from 2001 and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks with the scenes in the movie. It is by no means a novel narrative strategy. Having said that, Adithya Dhar has masterfully conveyed the immediacy and urgency demanded by these instances without excessive dramatization or rabble-rousing gimmicks that several movies tend to employ at the cost of narrative authenticity. These juxtaposed scenes felt like they were superimposed; with fiction deliberately layered above the facts. The net effect is one of a story that challenges disbelief every time it settles into the lull of a typical spy thriller.

The movie opens with one of the millennium attack plots, the hijacking of IC 814, in Kandahar, on 24 December 1999. The helplessness of the largest democracy in the world, forced on its knees by a small group of militants using innocent lives as bargaining chip, becomes apparent right at the onset. There are no lengthy dialogues or inhuman feats of a swashbuckling hero in this scene. Just a potbellied man (remarkably played by Madhavan) with nerves of steel being humbled by the plight of his fellow countrymen. Along with this, two other attacks (the 2001 Parliament attack and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks) link the eight chapters of the movie. IB Chief Sanyal proposes “Operation Dhurandhar” as a last-ditch effort to afford an upper hand in the war against terror. Thus, first chapter, The Price of Peace, serves to contextualize and justify the protagonist’s existence in the narrative.

Commercial spy thrillers quite often rely on the central character to take the narrative forward. Dhurandhar stands apart here in the sense that agent Hamza Ali Mazari (played by Ranveer Singh) aka Jaskirat Singh Rangi, is let loose amidst events that are already in motion. As the attacks unfold in India, viewers get a  behind-the-scene-view of how they came about through the journey of Hamza Ali Mazari. Ranveer’s restrained acting alongside Akshay Khanna’s towering presence as the notorious Rehman Dakait makes for a convincing viewing experience. Because the story is set in Pakistan, Khanna’s character occupies a position central to the narrative, only to be displaced by Mazari in the eight chapter. Dhurandhar has explored the complexities of the enemy side and exploited it to place the character of Hamza Ali Mazari at critical junctures, where the fissures are just enough for him to hide and exploit at the right time.

A word that keeps getting repeated like a motif throughout the movie is sabr meaning patience. It serves as a reminder that the story is being built up one event at a time and spans over a period of about a decade. While Mazari slowly makes his way into the coccus of the core conspirators in Pakistan, India is shown to be reeling under repeated attacks. Lives are lost and the country is left staggering. The weight of the long wait slowly starts descending on the viewers, making us restive and wanting more. Even after Mazari kills Rehman Dakait, it still feels insufficient. One should also mention the romantic angle between Mazari and Yalina Jamali. Their romance is in no way incidental to the plot. It makes one wonder about Mazari’s true intentions with her. Getting Yalina on his side was perhaps Mazari's first deliberate step to secure his position in the larger game already underway in Lyari. Is she merely a means to an end or is she the one anchoring him to his true self when everything around him is screaming to let go? Let’s wait for Dhurandhar: Part 2 – Revenge to know more.

Sanjay Dutt as S.P. Chaudhary Aslam brought in something resembling comic relief, though it was not explicit. Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal was a surprising cast and he definitely lived upto the role with panache. Saara Arjun as Yalina Jamali was refreshing. She brough in the right amount of innocence and eccentricity demanding of the character. I personally liked the acting of Gaurav Gera as Mohammad Aaalam, Mazari’s handler. The whole cloak and dagger thing suited him well. There were a couple of scenes where Danish Pandor as Uzair Baloch stole Ranveer’s thunder with ease. Finally, Ranveer Singh himself was great in this role. Who knew he could pull off the Byronic Hero this well? I shamelessly fell for his charms. On a lighter note, I am sure there is a separate fan base for his hair alone.

The film score by Shashwat Sachdev has done justice to the movie, peaking right where the viewer needs to experience the adrenaline rush. One line that has stuck with me is "Rehman dakait ki di hui mauth badi kasyinuma hoti hain". Akshay Khanna has outdone himself as Rehman Dakait. I would say it is one of the best performances of his till date. He comes across as a caring husband and father, spiteful son and pure evil incarnate through nuanced expressions without ever coming across as a raving lunatic. His unhinged restraint in some scenes makes you squirm in your seats.  

That’s all about Dhurandhar for now. 


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