Introduction
Several rumors about a possible collaboration between director Aditya Dhar and Ranveer Singh came to a halt when this film was officially announced in July 2024. What followed, were countless delays, controversies, an almost non-existent marketing, eyebrow raising runtime reveal, and low advance booking figures, which finally led to the film's release today. Dhurandhar stars Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, and Rakesh Bedi. And while the ensemble cast may seem like the biggest highlight, trust me — that’s only the bait. Writer-director Aditya Dhar has crafted something colder, darker, and far more calculated than you'd expect!
Basic Plot
After an Indian plane hijacking in 1999 and the Indian Parliament attacks on 2001 are found to be directed by Pakistani terror groups, India plans to retaliate, in silence.
Positives
Cast Performances
The casting was sure to create fireworks, and boy oh boy, there's some serious acting in this film! Each of the lead actors are given proper spaces to flaunt their skills and they've rightfully taken that a step above, where they've just flexed their caliber! Relatively small screen timing is given to R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal, but the impact that these two actors have over the story is amazing. Both of these actors are used as catalysts who take such events forward, that shape this entire story, the way, it is told. In spite of the film being heavily loaded from the casting POV, writer-director Aditya Dhar never lets his actors do all the talking at the expense of the screenplay. This bold yet smart 'story-first' move lets the other three lead characters into the story organically, and you don't feel that a character is brought in just for the sake of it. All of them crossing each others' paths is surprisingly well established, and that surely lends this film a dynamic edge. Ranveer Singh is very convincing as the main protagonist, who justifies the title of the film that literally means cunning. His long hairs, pashtun style costumes, measured body language and a withdrawn dialogue delivery is damn good. Sanjay Dutt plays a character which is basically the off-screen persona of his own self, and Sanju Baba nails that with utmost conviction. R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal shine in the limited scenes that they're given, but the show stealer of them all, is surely Akshaye Khanna! One could easily predict the acting level that he would showcase here, and frankly, this man takes things to a different league altogether. A slight tinge of theatre act, expressive dialogue delivery, and his sheer screen presence through out a humongous 213-minute runtime, are more than enough to bangs for your bucks. At a certain point in the film, you would feel Khanna isn't acting, but enjoying the character instead. Such is the level of persuasion that his acting carries here! The supporting cast provide good support to the lead cast as well.
Direction, Writing, and Storytelling
I absolutely loved the way writer-director Aditya Dhar chose his story-telling technique. While a spy story like this, irrespective of whether it's inspired from real life events, can be told in a lucid and straight-forward way— it contributes nothing new to the genre and ends up becoming one among any other spy films, after a successful box office run. But here, things are surprisingly different. In spite of a format based screenplay which is basically 'introduction.. conflict.. climax.. resolution', Dhar has put more emphasis on the characters and the narrative. The chapter-like screenplay in the film helps building thew world, and the characters within, which provides a very authentic cinematic experience. Though the 'chapters' are not made the Tarantino way (I'm not complaining as they weren't supposed to be like that in the first place), the web series exposed new-gen Indian audience will surely relate to the 'chapter' concept, as well as their naming. The world building is solid, and the slightly greenish color palette really sets the tone. Emotions are well placed in the screenplay that make this entire watch believable and the characters, humans. What caught me off guard (in a good way) with how the music was used in this entire film. 'Needle drop filmmaking' technique (much like Tarantino, once again) hasn't only been used, but proudly showed-off here, and damn, that makes a lot of difference. Classic Indian songs are used at several instances to justify actions, set up mood, celebrate characters, and finally, to provide a lot of entertainment. The infusion of rap in some of them in order to keep things aligned with the modern age is just fab! Bahraini rapper Flipperachhi's song 'Fa9la' is used in a scene featuring Akshaye Khanna, in the second half of the film and that's epic. I don't know if you all felt the same way I did, but that was truly amazing. The fact that the name of the song is pronounced as 'Fasla', meaning fun time, and that's exactly what Khanna was shown doing during this song in the film, is some serious detailing by Aditya Dhar! The strength of this film also lies in the way it combines two very separate genre; 'Gangster-drama' and 'Spy-thriller', and manages to present that in an action-thriller film. While all of this might sound a bit too heavy, you will surprised to see how well these genres transition into one another in the film, creating hell of a dynamic experience. Moreover, Dhar hasn't held back from the violence POV. The actual characters (on whom the film is based) were violent as well, and thus, the violence shown here has a purpose and that's really 'shown' here. Dhar has used the 'A' certificate to leverage his vision and the results can be bloody-overwhelming for some people. Arjun Rampal's scene right after the climax pretty much explains everything I guess :)
Underwhelming Aspects
Knick Knacks
While there isn't anything specifically wrong or underwhelming about this film, there are some miscellaneous aspects that could've been done better. Firstly, the hand to hand action isn't really special or 'too fun'. I know it's not an 'action first' film, but instances with combat scope could've been better executed. The choreography is forgettable, and the excessively shaky camera work during those scenes makes your eyes wiggle, instead of making you feel the tension. Secondly, director Dhar hasn't really thrown some identity related vulnerable scenes at Ranveer Singh's character, in spite of the unpredictable environment, omnipresent through out. See, it's obvious that the film had other plot points to deal with, and also, the character played by Singh was too smart to be caught and hence, he stood no chance, of his identity getting to the verge of revelation. Still, it could have been added for a more dramatically-cinematic angle. Thirdly, it's the female characters. There were only two characters in the film, and one of them, Saumya Tandon appears only in two scenes. I initially thought her character to hold depth, especially after how Khanna entered the plot, but she, playing his wife, had nothing much to do right from the beginning. Sara Arjun plays the other female character who is simply typical in this film. Although she did perform decently, her entire character writing and body language made it hard to believe, at least for me, that she belongs to the same world as Singh and Khanna and Dutt and Rampal. She plays a love interest, who laughs, cries, tries to be useful, only to vanish towards the end. Not happy with how it's been done.
Conclusion
Apart from some stellar cast performances, what Dhurandhar reaps most of it's benefits is the way the screenplay has been written. What could have easily been a template based spy story with occasional non-linear writing, has been completely redesigned in a classic way that not only provides Hindi commercial cinema with a new filmmaking perspective, but also emphasizes the story over actors and performances at every instance in the film. Credits to the dialogue writing as well, for neither being too flashy, nor being too dry, which suits the film's tone perfectly. The genre combination combination has really worked wonders and the inclusion of classic filmmaking tropes, which aren't really used in commercial Indian cinema, makes a hell lot of difference in a good way! The ending of the film has actually kept me hooked for what's coming in March 2025 (no spoilers) and I wonder whether this film has anything to Dhar's another directorial 'Uri: The Surgical Strike' (2019). Well, that would be too much to expect, but you never say never! 'Ghayal hoon, isliye ghatak hook..' says Ranveer Sinmgh in the film, and a reference to this dialogue after the climax, has me so seated for the Revenge!
Watch Out For
- Cast Performances
- Storytelling
- Directorial Craft
WTF Rating
8/10