Dhurandhar: The Revenge — Audiences Brace as a Divisive Spy Sequel Opens
Inside a packed theater, popcorn rustling and phones dimmed, viewers lean forward as dhurandhar’s second chapter begins — a sequel that audiences are said to be bracing for arguments over. The new film arrives in theaters, including in the United States, after millions of dollars in presales in India, and the mood is as much about the politics of the cinema as it is about the action on screen.
How is Dhurandhar sparking debate?
The original Dhurandhar was divisive from the start: it became India’s highest-grossing film after its release and later topped the streaming chart for non-English films, even as officials in a neighboring country criticized it as propaganda and imposed a public ban. The sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, opens amid heightened tensions between the two countries and follows a formula that has already prompted public pushback and institutional responses.
Critics in one provincial government said the film mischaracterized a working-class neighborhood, prompting that government to back what it described as a rebuttal film. “Lyari stands for culture, peace, and resilience — not violence, ” the Sindh government said. Despite the ban, the earlier film was widely pirated in that country, and the sequel’s arrival has amplified conversations about how cinema intersects with real-world grievances.
What human stories sit behind the headlines?
The first Dhurandhar featured a lead played by Ranveer Singh, who portrays an Indian operative named Hamza Ali Mazari on a dangerous undercover mission in Karachi. The film’s opening scenes reference real attacks and incidents, and its fictional Indian intelligence chief, Ajay Sanyal, is described in the film as being believed to be modeled after a well-known national security figure. That blending of fiction and real events has unsettled some viewers and officials while enthralling others.
An image captured from the earlier release underscored the divide: a prominent lawmaker, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was seen entering an event to one of the film’s trending songs in a clip that circulated widely. The juxtaposition — high-level attention on one side and official bans and rebuttals on the other — has turned the film series into a flashpoint where cultural consumption and national narratives collide.
What are makers and institutions saying and doing?
Director Aditya Dhar returns with the sequel, and producers have defended their choices while expressing a sense of duty about how stories rooted in real events are handled. “When a story is inspired by real events and complex geopolitical realities, intent and responsibility must go hand in hand with cinematic ambition, ” said Jyoti Deshpande, president of Mumbai-based Jio Studios and one of the producers of “Dhurandhar. “
Deshpande added that their aim was to offer a “more nuanced take on patriotism while at the same time remaining highly engaging through immersive storytelling that allowed viewers, regardless of geography, to be invested in the narrative. ” At the same time, local governments have moved to counter what they view as harmful portrayals, commissioning responses that they describe as corrective and protective of community reputation.
For audiences, the practical signs are unmistakable: theaters reporting large presales, conversation spilling into public squares and social feeds, and viewers arriving with expectations shaped as much by headlines as by trailers. The sequel’s release marks not only the next chapter of a fictional operative’s mission but another episode in a larger cultural debate about how cinema interprets and amplifies recent history.
Back in the dimmed theater where the film began, the final credits roll and the murmurs begin — some applauding the spectacle, others already poised to argue the politics. As viewers file out, the scene returns to its first note: a crowd gathered not just to watch dhurandhar on screen but to measure what that watching means in a tense, real-world moment.
