Anurag Kashyap has lauded Aditya Dhar's recently released spy thriller, Dhurandhar, calling it a "significant film" despite disagreeing with some of its political dialogues. Kashyap shared his thoughts on Letterboxd, praising the film's "top-notch" filmmaking and the "stubbornness" of its director.
Dhurandhar, directed by Aditya Dhar, stars Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal. The film has become a massive box office success, becoming the first Hindi film to cross ₹800 crore in India.
Kashyap acknowledged that he had problems with two specific sequences in the film. He mentioned Madhavan's dialogue, "Ek din aisa ayega jab jo desh ke baare mein koi sochega," and Ranveer Singh's line at the end, "Yeh naya India hai," as points of contention. However, he chose to overlook these "propaganda dialogues" and focus on the film's merits.
Kashyap defended Dhar's political perspective, stating that it stems from the director's personal experiences as a Kashmiri Pandit who has "suffered". He emphasized that Dhar is "not an opportunist like others" and that his films consistently revolve around Kashmir. Kashyap added, "Agree or disagree with it, the man is honest". He has known Aditya Dhar since his National Award-winning 2009 short film Boond, where he worked as a writer.
Kashyap drew comparisons between Dhurandhar and "Oscar-winning propaganda films about the USA" such as The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. He also praised Ranveer Singh's performance, calling it his "favourite performance" and describing Singh as "so secure". He said that if he, as a filmmaker, had to argue about the politics of Dhurandhar, he would call Dhar.
Prior to Kashyap's review, Hrithik Roshan also praised Dhurandhar on his Instagram Stories, acknowledging that while he may disagree with the film's politics, he couldn't ignore how much he "loved and learned" from it as a student of cinema.
Dhurandhar is co-produced by Dhar and Lokesh Dhar's B62 Studios and Jyoti Deshpande-led Jio Studios. The film's success has been met with enthusiasm from audiences, with many expressing their admiration on social media. Sara Arjun, who plays Ranveer Singh's love interest in the film, thanked audiences for their overwhelming response.
Given the film's success, Dhurandhar 2 is slated to release on March 19.
