Dhurandhar - Bollywood's Seminal Moment
This is a long post - because it's been almost 7 years since I enjoyed a Bollywood film in the theatres. It's been almost 7 years since I have loved every single song of a Bollywood movie. It was a Ranveer Singh movie that I last enjoyed watching in the theatres with a cracker of an album - that was Gully Boy and today it's again a Ranveer Singh movie that brought me back to the theatre with a banger of a soundtrack.
I have been watching Bollywood movies since I was a kid - 4 decades of it. Watching movies in theatre with family and friends was one of our ultimate joys. Rewatches in theatres cause there was no internet, no OTT, no cable TV. Even when cable came in the 90s , the hit movies didn't make it to TV for over a year after their release. The thrill and joy of watching a trailer, waiting for the release , queueing up for first day first show has faded away in the era of OTT especially post pandemic. The movie has to be worth my time in the theatre and the 2020s are competing with the 80s for the worst decade in Bollywood. 80s were still saved by good music - the essence and heart of Bollywood films has been their music; you will find many a flop films, but they will still have good songs. The 2020s were failing on both accounts - lack of good films and music until Dhurandhar singlehandedly saved this decade.
The few ones I enjoyed in this decade so far (12th Fail, Laapata Ladies, Superboys of Malegaon, Merry Christmas, Darlings, 1983) were very well made but did not demand a theatre viewing or cinematic experience - they were mostly heart warming or thriller movies that I could watch in the comfort of my home.
A movie in a theatre - on a large screen, demands to be awesome on all fronts - excellent direction, compelling story telling, superb acting, and a solid soundtrack/background score. Movie making is an art and many fail to realise this. Most important of all - the movie has to entertain me (I do not watch movies for moral lessons).
The 2020s are suffering from lack of original stories, below average acting, trailers that give away everything about the movie, constant promos on social media, paid PR, influencer marketing. All this made me tap out of the film even before it was released. We did watch a few films in the theatre, but none blew my mind away, most were mediocre and I didn't feel like I wanted to rewatch any again, forget coming back to the theatre. Tickets are not cheap in UK so it needs to be a fantastic, mind blowing film to make me want to do that. The only film I rewatched in theatre in 2020s has been Oppenheimer.
And just when I had given up completely on Bollywood, Dhurandhar landed out of nowhere. No noise, no excessive PR, no bombardment of instagram reels, no trailer announcement, no promos, no cast interviews. The trailer just landed on my feed randomly and it had me hooked. It was a great ensemble cast - the cast didn't have star power except Ranveer but it was a cast I knew that would deliver cause it had my favourites from my younger days of watching Bollywood. I have maintained it for long that Ranveer Singh is the best actor of his generation and if I have not liked a Ranveer film it is because of the director. Uri was one of the best war films to come out of Bollywood and so I knew I could trust Aditya Dhar to deliver an above average film. I didn't expect it to blow my mind away or that I would get obsessed with it. I watched it twice in the last 8 days in the theatre - we bought the highest priced tickets because this movie demanded it.
I have spent the 4 paragraphs above setting the context before I get into the details of why I loved Dhurandhar. If it had released in the hay days of Bollywood in the 2000s maybe I wouldn't be raving about it so much and probably finding faults, but it has come at a time when Bollywood has forgotten the art of making good movies and this movie does everything right, and Aditya's expertise in his craft and love for movies shines through each frame.
The plot of the movie and the characters are by now well known to all so I won't spend time on reiterating those, but jump straight into what I loved about this film.
1.The director is the captain of the ship - a film is his vision and the output is his execution. How he guides all the teams - the actors, the set designers, the music director, the casting director, the script impacts the final outcome. Through this film Aditya has probably changed the course of Bollywood films. If this film does not make the other filmmakers think about the quality of output the audience desires, I dunno which film will. Aditya is not tied to any camps, his desire to make hard hitting films (his political leanings aside) is evident and there is no doubt that he is excellent at his craft. He respects his audience - keeping my political ideologies aside, I'm able to appreciate his craft. He gets the best out of his team especially on the acting and story telling fronts - Uri, Article 370 and now Dhurandhar. I have liked these films and before anyone starts making personal attacks here I have also loved Parzaania, Haider, Raazi, Black Friday, Maachis, Article 15, Hazaaron Khwhaishen Aisi and Firaaq. The bottomline is the audience desires a well narrated , directed and acted film. Compel me to be invested in the characters - good or bad - compel me to think about the movie long after it is over. Compel me to rewatch it cause I need to understand the nuances and the things I may have missed in my first watch. Dhurandhar excels at this aspect.
2. The ensemble cast - Mukesh Chabbra can take away all the awards for casting director. There isn't a single actor/actress that does not fit the role in this movie - however big or small the role. Even Arjun Rampal works and I do not think the man has ever been able to act, but in the short stint on screen he looks menacing.
a. Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait: I love that Gen Z has discovered Akshaye Khanna, as a 90s teenager we crushed on both the Khanna brothers while growing up. Akshaye in Border, Taal, Dil Chahta Hai, Hulchul made our heart flutter. Vinod Khanna, his father was one of the most handsome heroes to grace Bollywood and the genes passed on well to both his sons. Akshaye isn't on any comeback as everyone is shouting about , I mean he delivered a stellar menacing performance earlier in the year as Aurangzeb in Chhava. He has been doing films regularly and delivered good performances consistently. He just never cracked it as big lead hero given he debuted when the Khans were at their peak , made some bad film choices, and then Hrithik stole the show. As Rehman Dakait here - he was scary and charming as hell. The silent assassin types - no big towering personality, but every time he came on screen, you felt fear yet couldn't stop gushing over him. When was the last time a negative role lead had women swooning over him - was it SRK in Darr and Baazigar in the 90s? Akshaye delivered two fantastic negative roles this year - Rehman Dakait is already legendary and will sit amongst the top performances in Bollywood's best negative lead roles - Gabbar, Mogambo, Shakaal, Rahul (Darr), Langda Tyagi, Maqbool, Simi (Andhadhun). I know his little jig and dance has gone viral on social media, but he had 4 fantastic entries in the film - first when he comes to see his son's dead body in the hospital, the second when he comes for Jamil Jamali's party speech on the ground, the third is the Faq9la and fourth one when he gets announced as the prime candidate for Liyari arriving to Lutt Le Gaya. All 4 entries at different levels of intensity and Akshaye Khanna's mannerisms and expressions in all elevate the scenes, but the fourth one towers above all of these owing to the setting of the crowd and the brilliant song in the backdrop.
b. R Madhavan as Ajit Sanyal and Sanjay Dutt as SP Aslam: Like Akshaye Khanna, Madhavan is the heartthrob of all 90s teen girls. We have a huge soft spot for him and he was unrecognisable the first time he came on screen. I get the few lines his character utters in the movie that have triggered part of the population, but given the jingoism in recent movies like Fighter, I can actually ignore these 3 lines (I counted) and focus on the main plot of the movie and not have it ruin what is a brilliant film. Madhavan had limited screen time in this part but I believe there is more to come in Part 2, and I'm always seated to watch him on my screen. Sanjay Dutt carries a torrid personal past and I'm no fan, but he fit the bill of SP Aslam and I did enjoy his entry in the film which reminded me of Fargo (if that's what the director intended).
c. Gaurav Ghera as Alam and Danish Pandor as Uzair Baloch: I did not recognise Gaurav Ghera and I wouldn't have till the end if I had not read about him on my social media feed. What a wonderfully camouflaged performance. Danish was the surprise package for me holding his own amongst the stalwarts - it took me few days to realise he was in Chavva as well. He held his own in the scenes with Akshaye and Ranveer. I did not know who to look at when Akshaye, Ranveer and Danish came in a single frame together - 3 men who looked absolutely hot, charming and hit the ball out of the park with their acting. I welcome more of such dilemmas as a female audience. It's been a rarity in Bollywood films.
d. Saumya Tandon and Sara Arjun : Both the females had little to do in this film but they both caught my attention every time they were on the screen. Their scenes did not take me out of the movie and they both held their own against their respective leads. For all the misogyny , hyper masculinity and strong violence talk against this film - no women were harmed on screen and no dialogue against women made me uncomfortable. Even the item song wasn't an item song - it came at the right moment in the film and the dancers were gorgeous and the steps did not reek of vulgarity. Comparing this movie with Animal is doing disservice to our collective sensibilities. Just what exactly do you expect in an espionage/ gang war film - equal female representation or that the Mafia lords, RAW and ISI agents are having hi-tea at Taj? These so called film critics and their desperate attempt to inject feminist views into a film review amuse me. There was no nudity, no kissing scenes and no violence against women in this film. Also stop with the age gap criticism - if you have hailed Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi you have no business criticising this actor-actress age gap. I'm not a fan of age gap casting, but if that's your only criticism of the film, you need to step back and realise that most South Indian and Bollywood films have suffered from this problem.
e. Rakesh Bedi as Jamaal Jamali - In a film where every single actor aced his role, a veteran like Rakesh Bedi gave a standout performance. A lovable leech that's how I would define his character. A slippery snake who kept switching sides to maintain his position and had zero moral compass. He also added the light touch comedy respite in a serious film and it was effortless , not forced!
f. Ranveer Singh as Hamza : I have always maintained that Ranveer Singh is the best actor in his generation. I personally cannot stand his offscreen personality but his acting I love. He embodies the character and you forget it is Ranveer. Playing the titular role, Ranveer the star could have been all over the place , but Ranveer excels in playing roles where he is not afraid to take the backseat when needed. We saw it in Gully Boy, and we see it here again. This has to be easily his best performance in what is a diverse filmography. No theatrics, no dancing, no loud dialogues, just emoting through his eyes. His fear, his worry, his determination, his obsession, his anger, his revenge. You cannot take your eyes off him when he is on screen. I loved his look, his built, his kurtas, and his hair and curls! Someone give me his hair routine. I can't wait to see him in Part 2 and I will be booking my tickets for first day first show when it releases on 19Mar26. I know Akshaye Khanna is getting more love, but for me Ranveer stole the show and is the No1. performer in this film - what an absolutely measured acting masterclass, the kind that is proof that the man understands the craft and excels at it.
3. The Music : This will need a separate post because every single song is a banger in this film and the soundtrack/background music is the underrated star of this film. Every song placement, every word of the lyrics, the timing of the music and lyrics with the scene elevates the scene 10x times and when you listen to the songs having watched the movie your listening experience enhances 100x. I haven't listened to an entire album of a Bollywood film on a loop before and after the movie release since Gully Boy. The remixes of old songs interspersed with techno beats, and rap are brilliantly done - so amazing that it brought back memories of Instant Karma and Bombay Vikings days. I'm not precious of the past works - if you do justice to the original bringing your original touch , I'm here for it. Shashwat Sachdev take a bow, for you have opened the ears of Gen Z to the 'Gold' that was Bollywood music from the 60s to 00s.
4. The Set Design : The movie was shot in Thailand, India and Ladakh. Liyari was created in Thailand and I'm in awe. The Rehman arrest scene was shot on a bridge in Dombivali. Having watched a lot of Pakistani dramas - I must say the set designers got this part right.
5. The action scenes: My tolerance for violence is at its lowest. I was a big mafia movie fan in my younger days, but now the whole gang war bores me to death. So I was a bit hesitant to watch this film, but the trailer had me gripped, the music caught my ear and a very dear friend who has similar Bollywood viewing sensibilities as me raved about this film. So I was hopeful and she wasn't wrong, I ended up loving it and probably got more obsessed with it than she did. The violence is gory and strong, but it isn't unnecessary or excessive. The camera doesn't linger on the gore that will take you out of the film. The action and chase scenes are excellent, at 3 points in the film I was absolutely on the edge of my seat. The last car scene gave me an adrenalin rush. That scene is peak cinema. More on the scenes and songs in a separate post.
Dhurandhar signals the the comeback of good old Bollywood - a taut script, great direction, brilliant performances by the cast, the feel of a 70s multi-starrer, great music, a bit of a romance that doesn't take you out of the film, the banger entries of each of the main cast, and the scenes that live rent free in your head. Movies that get you invested in all characters, movies that linger on long after they are over, movies that will become a cult, movies that you will keep coming back to.
Entertainment at its peak!
Ignore the noise around this movie, if like me you are a Bollywood fan - go enjoy the big screen spectacle that is Dhurandhar - everyone I recommended this movie to had only one thing to say - Maza Aa Gaya (It was great fun). Movies are meant to entertain and this one does that to the hilt!
