Dhurandhar

Directed and written by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar (2025) is an expansive, grounded espionage action thriller produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios. Spanning decades of tense geopolitical hostilities in South Asia, the film serves as the opening chapter of a two-part covert-warfare epic.

The narrative kicks off against the backdrop of historical flashpoints, including the 1999 IC-814 Kandahar hijacking and the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. Confronted with systemic intelligence vulnerabilities and cross-border asymmetric warfare, Indian intelligence director Ajay Sanyal initiates a deep-cover counter-terrorism offensive known as Operation Dhurandhar to deploy an operative across the border and dismantle terror infrastructure at its source before operations reach Indian soil.

At the center of this mission is Jaskirat Singh Rangi, an operative erased from official state records who assumes the identity of Hamza Ali Mazari. Infiltrating the volatile Lyari underworld of Karachi, Pakistan, Hamza must navigate the lethal nexus between violent street syndicates, corrupt political corridors, and military intelligence handlers as the boundaries between his true self and his cover identity begin to erode.

Aditya Dhar crafts Dhurandhar as an unvarnished deconstruction of the physical and psychological toll of deep-cover espionage. The film's overarching message underscores that national security is sustained through nameless operatives who sacrifice their lives, morals, and identities in the shadows without ever receiving public recognition. Furthermore, it critiques institutional bureaucracy and historical appeasement, advocating for proactive, strategic counter-intelligence while exposing the symbiotic machinery linking political power, organized crime, and terror networks.

Critical and audience discourse around the film highlights diverse viewpoints:

Released in December 2025, Dhurandhar tapped directly into contemporary South Asian geopolitical discourse, exploring the evolution of Indian military-intelligence doctrine toward proactive preemption. It broke away from conventional Bollywood spy tropes by prioritizing docudrama-style tactical realism reminiscent of Zero Dark Thirty and Munich. Grossing over ₹1,350 crore worldwide, the blockbuster sparked mainstream conversations regarding historical intelligence failures, political accountability, and covert ethics.

Dhurandhar received widespread critical and audience acclaim for its immersive world-building, authentic set design of Lyari, and Vikash Nowlakha’s gritty cinematography alongside Shashwat Sachdev’s musical score. Ranveer Singh's restrained, brooding performance earned significant praise, as did the magnetic presence of Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt. Conversely, criticisms centered on the 214-minute runtime, pacing lags in intermediate stretches, and the film's ideological framing of regional history.