Movie Review – Dhurandhar: The Revenge

“You are not ready for this.” That’s from one of the songs used in Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Truth be told, I was not, even after having watched Dhurandhar a few months back and not quite recovering from it. Nothing could have prepared us for what the sequel was about to unleash.

For a film that’s nearly four hours long, Aditya Dhar does not waste time in setting the context. The first hour is spent answering earlier questions and laying the base for what is to come. What we get is a relentless action drama, marked by violence that has not been seen in Hindi cinema.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge starts with a young Jaskirant being exposed to crime and a horrific incident that takes away his chances of becoming army personnel like his father. He lands up in jail and is picked up from there by Ajay Sanyal as part of Operation Dhurandhar. Once the beginnings are explained, the screenplay jumps back to Lyari, where Hamza has already gained a foothold.

The screenplay uses real-life incidents such as the 26/11 attacks, the 2014 Indian elections, the 2016 demonetisation, the surgical strikes of 2016, and the killing of terrorists linked to LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad to showcase the success of Operation Dhurandhar. Unlike the first film, Dhurandhar: The Revenge is mostly about the action that is unleashed. So all the frills, like romantic songs, are cut out — a relief considering the runtime of the film.

The film is shot extremely well by Vikas Nowlakha, using every bit of the terrain during action sequences. In moments that demand emotional turbulence, he uses lighting beautifully. Every other department fires equally well. The editing is sharp, although there may have been some room to trim a few scenes and bring the duration down to a sub-150-minute fare. The casting may leave you gasping at the similarities with real-life figures, with prosthetics and make-up doing the rest of the job.

Ranveer Singh, as Jaskirat Singh Rangi, is as authentic as one could hope for. He lives the entire character arc — from a youngster training in the army to a spy who becomes the ‘King of Lyari’, the hotbed of the Karachi underworld. It is his commitment that adds an extra zing to this gripping film. He is not alone. Arjun Rampal, as Major Iqbal, shines through, especially in his confrontation sequences with his father. Both Gaurav Gera and R. Madhavan have less to do in the sequel but are absolute joys to watch whenever they appear; Gera, in particular, is pure magic and unrecognisable from his real self. More importantly, it is the actors in smaller roles — Danish Pandor as Uzair Baloch, Udaybir Sandhu as Pinda, and Raj Zutshi as Lt General Shamshad Hassan — who add an extra layer of believability to the film. Rakesh Bedi delivers a career-defining performance and is likely to be a crowd favourite.

Dhurandhar has been a revelation. The film has given us one of the sharpest directors to emerge from the Indian film industry — more specifically, Hindi cinema. His earlier films did not give him the space to work with music in the way he has in Dhurandhar.

Dhurandhar could well set the course for future filmmakers. It may become a template for designing action sequences and cutting them to music that enhances storytelling. Given the direction in which theatrical releases in India seem to be heading, this could serve as a major learning for others. Dhurandhar: The Revenge is every bit the sensory overload that the first part was — and then some. Yet, I would not be surprised if you are left wanting more.

P.S. The film does have its political messaging, but it also asserts that it only draws inspiration from real-life incidents and is not a documentary. It is advisable to treat it as a work of fiction. Also, this is an A-rated film — don’t be careless; do not take children to watch it.

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