‘Dhurandhar’ is still the talk of the town, despite the fact that it’s soon going to be three months to the film’s release. The makers are now gearing up to the film’s sequel, set to release on March 19. The film faced some criticism as many called it a propaganda film. In a recent interview, veteran journalist turned author, columnist Shobhaa De has given her views on the film. While she praised the movie, De also revealed that the hype around Akshaye Khanna after the release was manipulative. “Dhurandhar is like a political bomb. I wasn’t prepared for it. I went to watch it thinking it would be part of a spy universe. I mostly went because I had briefly run into Ranveer Singh at a cafe in Alibaug when he was preparing for the film. He was deeply absorbed in his work, sitting with his laptop and reading his script,” she said in an interview with Rediff originals. She went on to recount that chance meeting in detail. “My husband and I have known him since he entered films. I didn’t want to interrupt him, but he is a very well-mannered young man and joined our table briefly. He spoke about the project without revealing the title, but mentioned he needed to gain around 15 kilos and grow out his hair and beard. He was completely immersed in the preparation. At that time, he was only prepping for Dhurandhar.”De admitted that her initial curiosity stemmed from wanting to see Ranveer’s physical transformation, but the film soon surprised her with its broader ambition. “More than anything else, I felt this was an important film because it didn’t follow the typical spy-universe fantasy route. It wasn’t a local James Bond. It was a filmmaker telling significant stories that the younger generation might not know about like Kandahar and the Mumbai terror attacks.”Commending director Aditya Dhar, she added, “Taking contemporary history and crafting a narrative for today’s generation around a larger-than-life undercover agent who I believe did exist, is ambitious. The scale was massive. It also explored Lyari and the underworld of that era, drawing several parallels. From that perspective, I think it is very powerful filmmaking. I related to this more than Pathaan. That one felt like entertainment, with glamorous counter-spies trying to woo the hero. That’s not how reality works.”Talking further about the praise around Akshaye Khanna, De said, “Another manipulative aspect was creating the impression that Akshaye is the bigger star and that he alone stood out, even crediting his dance as the highlight.”De also spoke about the reactions from the industry to the film and said, “Nobody asked Hrithik Roshan whether he agreed with the politics of the film. He could have simply said he liked it — but he chose to go further. The choreography, the use of music, and the casting in Dhurandhar are all brilliant.”‘Dhurandhar 2’ is set to release on March 19.
