Dhurandhar review: Ranveer Singh brings star power to a violent, vengeful saga

In real life, villains are never all black, and heroes are never all angels in white. After being rudely sent back by the Kandahar terrorists, Ajay Sanyal (R. Madhavan from Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein) shows strength and courage. He comes up with a plan to infiltrate and destroy Pakistan’s terror networks. It takes him two years to get the government to greenlight his plan.

A Balochi man arrives in Lyari Town, Karachi, with a backstory of having lost his family to the cause. The town is run by gangs, each trying to outdo the others through violence. These gangs are supported by political parties. One such gang is headed by Rehman Dakait, played by Akshaye Khanna. Khanna, who is getting better with every scene, is rumoured to have killed his mother in anger after discovering he was an illegitimate child.

“I don’t want money,” is what the young lad says after saving the son of Rehman Dakait. Everyone has seen how Hamza fought to save Rehman’s child during a shootout, so he is accepted into the gang.

At every step, Hamza passes the test of loyalty. He soon becomes trusted enough to be included in Rehman’s plans and accompanies him everywhere. It is a very ‘macho world’ where bitter and abusive words fly as much as bullets do. Sometimes, the violence feels overdone, but Ranveer Singh makes it look heroic.

And his eyes, yes, his eyes collect all the information. Even Aditya Dhar cannot resist introducing the element of ‘Ishq’ (love) into a film that might otherwise be fast-forwarded on OTT. Hamza romances the daughter of a creepy politician, Jameel Jamali. Rakesh Bedi plays the politician brilliantly; the super bad cop, SP Chaudhary, rightly saves his number as ‘Suar Jamil’.

SP Chaudhary’s ‘entry,’ as they say in South movies, is awesome. He adds fuel to the flagging story. (How much can we see politicians and bad guys fight? Two hours, apparently!) We now see ISI emerging with Arjun Rampal as its chief. Despite the awful teeth and the ugly beard he is given, Rampal still comes across as gorgeous.

Next, two wealthy brothers manage to obtain the ‘plates’ for the Indian 500 and 1000 rupee notes. I throw up a little in my throat in anticipation of a propaganda turn. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen. The collective seething in the theatre is given voice when Hamza bashes up the bad guy who cheered the November attacks on Bombay. The girls had come hoping to see Ranveer Singh romance the girl, complete with a little song and dance. But give me a scene where he says, “The door is open if you’re going to expect…” Very mensch, very mensch.

Alas, the film is over three and a half hours long. The explanation that Sanyal used, that men who had nothing to lose would be used to infiltrate, seems hastily added. This is likely due to the controversy that the filmmaker did not seek permission from the real-life hero, who went underground and became part of the terrorist network.

I came away hoping that the two money bhais and the other bad guys would receive their comeuppance soon. However, we will have to wait for the second part, which is scheduled for release in mid-2026.

Did the phenomenal star Ranveer Singh need a violent movie to prove he’s a star? Not really. But watching Dhurandhar in a theatre filled almost to the gills means he has the power to make people skip work or college and show up to say, ‘Mera Bharat Mahan!’. And yes, Sara Arjun in Ranveer’s shirt made the girls grit their teeth in envy; you could hear that over the crunch of the popcorn!