DISSECTING DHURANDHAR: FACTS, FICTION AND PROPAGANDA

H. Srikanth

Aditya Dhar’s movie sequel, Dhurandhar 2, has broken all previous box-office records and has amassed over Rs. 900 crores in the first six days of its release. It is estimated to cross Rs. 2000 crore collections, breaking the records of Bahubali and Pushpa series. The movie is appreciated for top-notch performances by the lead actors, adrenaline-fuelled storytelling, immersive cinematography, powerful dialogue, authentic-looking locales, and breath-taking background music.

Apart from cinematic values, the movie is in the news also for the controversies that it has created. While many view the Dhurandhar duology as a graphical expression of what is happening in the country today, we also have critics who discard the movie as yet another propaganda movie meant to support the political regime in power. Apart from probing what is there in the movie, it is necessary to see how the public received it.

In the last two decades, Bollywood has produced quite a few spy-thrillers with Salman, Shah Rukh, or Hrithik Roshanas lead actors. Interestingly, despite strong anti-Pakistani sentiments in India, these Bollywood spy movies remained soft on Pakistan. Even while criticizing the ‘rogue elements’ in Pakistan’s ISI and military, the spy movies tried to convey the idea that there are sane elements even in Pakistan who really aspire for peace and friendship with India.

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The protagonist in the movies, who is usually a RAW agent or an army officer, joins hands with sane elements within ISI to defeat the conspiracy hatched by villains in India and Pakistan. The movie Dhurandhar refuses to toe the set moderate formula and taking a hyper-nationalist position, accusing Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism within India.

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The instances of Pak-sponsored terrorist attacks on Indian soil have generated so much resentment against Pakistan and the terrorist groups within India. The parties and organizations supporting Hindutva ideology have cashed in on the anger and frustration among the majority community. Through the effective use of corporate media and social media, they have been able to propagate the idea that all terrorist activities are taking place in India because of the appeasement policies of the Congress and other opposition parties. They convinced their followers that the ideas of peace and harmonymake little sense to Pakistan.

It is only by hitting hard that India can teach a lesson to those sponsoring terrorism in India. Narendra Modi’s ‘Atmanirbhar Viksit Bharat’ would take the bull by the horns and not compromise. This vision of new India found expression in the 2019 movie, Uri–the Surgical Strike, the first directorial venture of Aditya Dhar, where the protagonist declares: “Ye naha Hindustan hai… Yeh ghar mein ghoosegabhi aur maaregabhee”, (This is New India. It enters your house and also hits you hard). The Dhurandhar duology written, directed and produced by Aditya Dhar is also premised on the same idea.

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Dhurandhar is the story of Jaskirat Singh Rangi, who takes revenge against a local MLA and his family who killed his father and brutally gang raped his sister. The court is about to punish him for killing twelve male members, but before the court pronounce its verdict, he was rescued by Ajay Sanyal, Indian Intelligence Bureau Chief, who assures protection to his mother and sister, provided Jaskirat agreed to work as a spy. He trains and turns Jaskirat into a lethal weapon and sends him to Pakistan. Assuming a new identity as Hamza Ali Mazari, he penetrates the gang of Rehman Dakait, a charismatic Baloch gangster.

While working in the gang, he gets in touch with politicians, the ISI, and different ethnic militant groups. His proximity with them enables Hamza get hold of information on the terrorist plans, which he keepssharing with Ajay Sanyal. This idea of sneaking into enemy gangs and working as agents of the state is nothing new. Way back in 1994, Govind Nihalani made the film Droh Kaal, wherein the government sends two police officers to infiltrate a Naxal group with the goal of eliminating it.

In recent years, a couple of OTT platforms have also come out with originals where Indian spy agents are sent to Pakistan on a mission. What is novel in the movie Dhurandhar is the way the real-life events, places and personalities are used to create a make-believe world where the line between truth and fiction is obliterated. The audience get so involved that they believe all they see on the screen are true incidents.

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Aditya Dhar’s portrayal of gang wars, politician-criminal-militant nexus, ethnic animosities, and power games that take place in Lyari, an urban locality in Karachi, looks very authentic. Some of the characters in the movie, such as Rehman Dakait, Uzair Dakait, SP Chaudhary Aslam, etc., are based on real-life Pakistani figures. Ajay Sanyal’s character is inspired by Ajit Doval, India’s National Security Advisor. Although the director plays a balancing act in the representation of different characters, his political bias becomes apparent in the sequel.

The movie gives the impression that while the Indian spies are staking their lives in a foreign land and passing on key information about terrorist activities, our earlier political dispensation in India have failed to prevent terrorist activities. The movie alleges that the ISI funded the Congress party and civil society organizations to influence election outcome in India. Through Ajay Sanyal’s character, the director conveys the message: “HindustaniyonkasabsebadaadushmanHindustanee hi hai, Pakistan dusre number pe aatahai” (The greatest enemy of India is Indians themselves; Pakistan comes next).

Sanyal longs for a nationalist government which would effectively deal with terrorism. In the sequel, he portrays as if the much-awaited change has taken place in India with the election of Narendra Modi as the PM. There are indirect references in the movie showing how the arrival of ‘Chaiwallah’ has created problems for the criminal-militant nexus in Pakistan.

The movie presents the demonetization experiment as a masterstroke by Modi to prevent counterfeit currency from Pakistan entering India. Interestingly, the Government of India officially never invoked the fake currency problem to justify the much-maligned demonetization experiment. Probably the leaders may do it now, as the people started believing this fictitious narrative.

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Further, the movie gives the impression that all Pakistan-backed terrorist attacks have taken place during the Congress regime. It hides the fact that incidents such as the Kandahar hijack of IC 814 in 1999, the Parliament attack in 2001, the Pulwama attack in 2019 and the more recent Pahalgam attack in 2025 took place during the BJP regime.

Further, some critics have pointed out that it was Indira Gandhi who established Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to counter Pakistan. Again, it was during the Congress regime (2004-14) in India that Rehman Dakait, SP Choudhary Aslam, Arshad Pappu, Uzair Baloch, etc., were killed / arrested. In the story, even Hamza Ali and Jameel Jamali were sent as Indian agents during the Congress regime.

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The director makes the audience believe that decisive action against Pak-sponsored terrorism started only after the ‘Chaiwallah’ took over power in India. No wonder Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, is confident that whoever watches the movie Dhurandhar would vote for BJP. Butwhat those who justifythe pro-BJP tilt in the movie are forgetting that, defending Dhurandhar means admitting the Pakistani allegation that India is behind many of the killings, violence and ethno-national uprisings in Pakistan.

Even ordinary Indians now find it difficult to believe Sarabjit Singh and Kulbushan Jadhav, who were arrested in Pakistan on charges of espionage and terrorism in Pakistan,are innocent. Post-Dhurandhar, India has now become what it never wanted to be, a carbon copy of Pakistan!

Prof. H. Srikanth, Department of Political Science, North-Eastern Hill University , hskant@gmail.com

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