How many of us are holding our breaths for DHU-RAN-DHAR: The Revenge? Count me in. Even though, after watching the trailer drop, I didn’t faint with excitement. For one, I needed a translation for the tagline—honsla (Courage), eendhan (Fuel) and badla (Revenge). Sounds like a headline for an Indian Army recruitment poster. A bit too obvious.
Then came the quick cuts: thundering, melodramatic dialogues and maar-peet galore. But where was the menace? The all-essential subversion? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll? Instead, it was all just plain gore and gore and more gore.
Hamza Ali’s (played by Ranveer Singh) most prized asset (his thick, glossy mane of hair) in Part 1 of Dhurandhar (2025) is missing in Part 2. While Sanjay Dutt’s deadly SP Chaudhary Aslam Khan’s trademark pristine white Pathan suit remains unblotched, unstained, despite all the khoon being splashed around by the bucketful.
Symbolism a la Dhar? A tainted, dreaded, ruthless villain clad in spotless “Surf white” as he goes about his business, blowing off heads on a busy street. Nice touch. Daag Achhe Hain, after all. Dirt is good, as the iconic Surf Excel tagline stated back in 2005.
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Let the jingoism begin
Then comes the stone-faced Doval (errr…R Madhavan), puffing away and glaring balefully at his quaking, brainless juniors. Golden-tooth Major Iqbal (Arjun Rampal) is around too, flashing his signature accessory (the soney ka tooth),as he commands the ISI goons to wreak havoc in India.
Frankly, the only scene in the much-awaited trailer that grabbed my attention was the last one. Jameel Jamali (Rakesh Bedi), the oily politician, visits Zardari on the lawns of the palatial presidential grounds and compliments the President of Pakistan on his “white buttocks”—bataks (ducks), of course. Great timing. A sly line.
Now, for the main show.
Mark your calendars, folks – 19 March, it is.
With luck, Ranveer Singh may be seen performing an item song that beats both—Akshaye Khanna’s viral pseudo-Baloch dance, and Ayesha Khan-Krystal D’Souza’s sizzling ‘Shararat’ routine—clubbed together. After a visit to a hair spa, of course.
We need more of that slithery Mick Jagger bad-boy vibe, too. Bring on the beast mode, Lyari ka Badshah. Audiences are done with the old Dhurandhar‘s ‘Rambha Ho Ho Ho.’ Let the jingoism begin—but make sure the background music is seriously insane.
Till then, here’s a little something to think about. Dhurandhar was nominated in 28 categories at a recent prestigious awards function. It was widely tipped to win big, but won nothing. Zilch. Anda. Film industry whispers confirmed what fans suspected—it was because of a no show by Team Dhurandhar at the widely publicised event.
As everyone knows, a no-show from nominated stars means no awards. Ridiculous? Grossly unfair? Unethical? Oh, for sure! But that’s how the film awards game is played in India. Either you buy the award, or you show up and dance on stage for free. The racket has been going on without any pushback for decades. Awards have been converted into a bad joke that nobody laughs at. But even blatantly corrupted awards carry a cache—they pump up the brand value of recipients and favourably impact the box office. Moral of the story? Paisa pheko, award lelo.
Despite the obvious collusion, a cloak of silence ensures nobody outs anybody. There’s too much at stake, and there are any number of award-hungry stars willing to perform a bandaar ka naach at such events, which rake in a fortune for organisers via telecast rights sold for a whack to the highest bidder.
Yet, a few do speak up, and then get slapped into rephrasing their quotes. Take the current controversy involving the hugely talented Yamini Gautam Dhar and Kriti Sanon. Gautam, nominated in the Best Actress category for her convincing performance as Shah Bano in Haq (2025), lost out to Sanon’s role in Tere Ishq Mein (2025).
“You try everything, and it still doesn’t work. I’ve stopped seeking any kind of validation,” Gautam had said, which was seen as a dig at Sanon. Interestingly, Gautam is married to Aditya Dhar, director, co-producer, and writer of Dhurandhar. Coincidence? Looks like husband and wife both got bamboo-ed.
For the Dhars, success sure is a b****.
Ranveer Singh, too, is dealing with his share of flak. Industry watchers insist the success of Dhurandhar has gone to his head and negatively altered his behaviour: a dramatic fee hike, an entourage whose numbers have trebled, seven vanity vans, squabbling with colleagues…vaghera, vaghera. That’s a pity, if true. A jhagdebaaz Ranveer isn’t sexy.
Shobhaa De is an author, columnist, social commentator, and opinion-shaper. She has written 20 books. She tweets @DeShobhaa. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)