Dhurandhar critics row: R Madhavan says he knew film would receive bad ratings - ‘Time to evolve’

Aditya Dhar's latest film, Dhurandhar, found itself in the middle of a controversy over critics' reviews. Amid this, actor R Madhavan opened up about the criticism of the film. He shared that he expected bad ratings for his film initially and said those critics are currently irrelevant.

Dhurandhar stars Ranveer Singh in the lead alongside Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi.

R Madhavan on poor ratings of Dhurandhar

In an interview with Puja Talwar, R Madhavan said he anticipated the reaction to Dhurandhar, citing criticism of his films like Rang De Basanti and Three Idiots as examples.

He said, “From the very beginning, I knew this was going to impact society. There will be people who will first give it very bad ratings."

The people who gave two ratings have become irrelevant. We are still in the industry. I’m not saying this out of spite; you’re just missing the point. It’s time to evolve,” he added.

The actor shared how he had experienced a similar situation when Rang De Basanti was criticised. Talking about Dhurandhar, he said, "When this happened with Dhurandhar, I thought, been there, done that.”

He went on to slam reviewers and YouTubers who often call films disasters right after their release, without understanding their context, in the actor's words. However, he asserted that a film's true value is determined by its long-lasting impact instead of its initial online impression.

“As actors, we dream of these situations, when everyone says it’s a stupid film, nothing will happen… and then it blows up. You haven’t seen the end yet,” he said.

Dhurandhar critics row explained

Dhurandhar received mixed reactions from critics since its release. However, the film has been praised by the audience and politicians. Even celebrities were seen praising the film team.

Film Critics Guild reacts

Recently, the Film Critics Guild condemned the attacks on the film critics for their reviews of Dhurandhar. In a statement, the body said, “The Film Critics Guild (FCG) strongly condemns the targeted attacks, harassment, and hate directed toward film critics for their reviews of Dhurandhar. What began as disagreement has rapidly devolved into coordinated abuse, personal attacks on individual critics, and organised attempts to discredit their professional integrity.”

“In recent days, several of our members have faced intimidation, including direct threats and vicious online campaigns aimed at silencing their perspectives, simply for expressing their professional assessment of a film. More concerningly, there have been attempts to tamper with existing reviews, influence editorial positions, and persuade publications to alter or dilute their stance,” it also added.