Renowned filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has once again stirred the pot, this time by drawing a sharp contrast between the “human” vulnerability in ‘Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge’ and the “expressionless” superheroism found in high-octane spectacles like ‘War 2.‘ While RGV stopped short of naming the Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR starrer directly, his critique of “templated pan-India heroes” who don’t feel pain has ignited a massive debate on the evolution of the Indian action hero.
Ram Gopal Varma bashes ‘War 2’ while praising ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’
In an interview with Faridoon Shahryar, Ram Gopal Varma shared that even though Ranveer Singh‘s Hamza/Jaskirat is a protagonist, he does many wrong things. The filmmaker praised Aditya Dhar for showcasing the lead character’s multiple shades.He said, “If you look at it, Hamza has done as many bad things as the so-called bad guys in the film. You are taking the perspective, ‘We are Indians, and they are Pakistanis.’ But if you take all of us as human beings, they’re all caught in a situation.”In the same conversation, he talked about ‘War 2’ without mentioning the title. He referred to the film as a big-budget movie headlined by two actors. Netizens were quick to connect the dots and claimed the film was Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR’s ‘War 2’ from the YRF Spy Universe.RGV said, “In recent times, not to take the film’s name, two big stars are fighting in a big-budget film, and I see no expressions on their faces. This guy punches, but there’s no effect because they’re heroes; they’re supermen.”RGV went on to add, “They’re not supposed to feel pain like any regular human being would because they want to protect their star image for their fans or whatever the reasons are.”Comparing the fight sequence in ‘Dhurandhar 2’ between Singh and Arjun Rampal, RGV added, “When Major Iqbal stabs Hamza towards the end, I’ve never seen pain be so real that I did on Ranveer Singh’s face. The last I saw a glimpse of that was Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Body of Lies’.”
Ram Gopal Varma’s take on the hero
In the same conversation, Ram Gopal Varma shared that a person who can “bleed, feel pain, and cry” can also become a bigger hero than typical “templated pan-India heroes.”Calling out the poor plot of the movies, he said, “The story is a very templated one, a hero working towards a lofty purpose for his country, sacrificing everything. Many films like that are being made.”Ram Gopal Varma added that Aditya Dhar treated the characters of his movies with dignity and humanness. He said, “None of them looks larger than life. But they feel larger than life. There’s no artificial buildup of the characters. They are gray.”
More about ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’
Directed by Aditya Dhar, the movie has crossed Rs 530 crore as of now in India. The movie is a rollercoaster ride of emotions from the beginning to the end. Aditya also included a post-credits scene in the espionage thriller. RGV has been on a ‘Dhurandhar 2’ appreciation spree. The filmmaker keeps posting about how much he liked director Aditya Dhar’s way of storytelling. So much so that in his post on Monday, he announced his next film, titled Syndicate, and dedicated it to his “new Guru” Aditya. Starring Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun, the movie was released in theaters on March 19, 2026.
