New Delhi: Shashi Tharoor has shared his take on Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar franchise, praising its filmmaking, performances, and grand scale. He also raised concerns about its graphic violence and political messaging, calling it “propaganda”.
After watching both films directed by Aditya Dhar, the Congress MP revealed that he enjoyed the second instalment, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, more than the first. In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Tharoor reacted to the films, discussing the aspects that impressed him and those that did not.
“As a work of fiction, as a work of entertainment, there is no doubt that the second part is superb,” he said in the video.
Tharoor was particularly not a fan of the graphic violence across both films, stating that several scenes were unnecessarily explicit. He described them as “totally excessive and over the top”.
“There was no need to show so much violence, blood, mayhem, cruelty, and some of the most disgusting scenes ever seen in Indian cinema,” Tharoor said.
Dhar’s films have faced criticism over their political undertones, and the Congress MP acknowledged the criticism that their messaging could influence how audiences perceive people across the border. He also referred to reports of the films being banned in Pakistan and several Gulf countries over concerns that their content could damage relations between Indians and Pakistanis.
“There is a lot of propaganda stuff built into it obviously, and I gather the film has been banned in many countries, not just in Pakistan, but many of the Gulf countries have banned it, saying it would needlessly create bad blood between Indians and Pakistanis, so I can understand those feelings,” said the Thiruvananthapuram MP.
Tharoor also speculated about how Pakistani audiences might respond to the films. While he believed some dialogues could amuse viewers, he suggested that other scenes might prompt them to reflect on actions carried out in their country’s name.
Spy world, demonetisation
Dhurandhar follows the story of undercover intelligence officer Jaskirat Singh Rangi, who takes on the identity of Hamza Ali Mazari in Pakistan. However, as per Tharoor, the world depicted in the films is quite different from his own experience of interacting with intelligence officials.
He revealed his interactions with intelligence personnel largely involved discussions, analysis, and the exchange of information, rather than covert operations and dramatic missions.
“I have dealt with a lot of our intelligence people but in a very civilised way, having analysis, conversations, information exchanges but not really getting into any cloak-and-dagger stuff. I am certainly not aware of commands being given that lead to explosions in faraway capitals. That’s not the world I have ever lived in,” he explained.
Tharoor also questioned the timeline associated with R Madhavan’s character, Ajay Sanyal, who is loosely inspired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. He said the idea of one civil servant remaining in the same position from the late 1990s to the present day isn’t possible.
“I think it would be too much of a stretch to assume that’s true. So I would see this as a fictional film that tells a story which obviously is meant to impart a certain sense of lessons as well,” the politician said.
During the watch party, one of Tharoor’s team members made him watch an old McDonald ad, which featured a young Sara Arjun, who plays Yalina. And Tharoor managed to recognise her.
Dhurandhar 2 links demonetisation to a covert, high-stakes military and intelligence strike, designed to crush a massive cross-border network of fake Indian currency notes and state-sponsored terror funding.
“You don’t build a foreign policy or national security on those things. National service is about far, far bigger things, far bigger objectives… the larger well-being of 1.4 billion people,” he added.
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What Tharoor liked
Despite his reservations, Tharoor praised the franchise’s cinematography, production design, sets, direction, and performances. He also applauded the villains of both films, Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna) and Major Iqbal (Arjun Rampal).
“It’s a very vividly made film and is bound to have an impact… What I enjoyed was the plotting, the plot twist, the way the story unfolded, the very competent acting all around. There were no weak links… everything was pretty convincing,” Tharoor said.
“At the end of 8 hours, you feel you have been through a major cinematic experience.”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)