DHURANDHAR Review - Watchable Actioner that is Way-Too-Dragged!

Ashwin Ram

Writing/ Direction: Starts off in an instantly shocking manner by showcasing terrorist cruelty, in fact the whole first hour is solid. The establishments of the storyworld and the artist roles are strongly made with such bonafide narration. The credible writing is evident as every scene till a point carries an interesting drama by organically linking the situations with the characters. The story's backdrop is Pakistan and the director has worked so hard to bring it live on-screen, the efforts have paid-off as the locality gives a new experience. Duration is never an issue for a film that manages to constantly surprise us, for a movie that runs over 210 minutes has to be superlative in regular intervals, unfortunately this one could not hold the momentum despite having great potential. The Pakistan politics is deeply discussed, but the flavour becomes dry and tacky in the progression. It is impossible to make this as a single part, but the length could have easily been an hour less by cutting down the lags. The heroine character is added as a pre-determined notion just to use to take a crucial political decision. For which the film wastes screen time on the distant romantic track and a few unwanted songs are placed as well. The situations lack freshness and the documentary style talkie portions dilute the drama from the subject. Many basic plot-points that could have been treated as montages appear as full-fledged sequences consuming so much time, Sanjay Dutt’s introduction for example, etc. The storytelling gets fizzled-out when it tries to overstuff the content, hence the patriotic emotions never fall in place. Extremely violent and it works with respect to the action stretches, but again many draggy fights where the men simply go all guns blazing. No big cliffhanger ending, just a small tease to the sequel which is coming in March 2026. Limitless characters and names to remember, moreover the chapter-wise narrative titles add fuel to the already existing confusion.

Performances: Ranveer Singh is all beefed up for his classy spy role, his stubborn action-oriented character is worthy of his physical transformation. He has got some crazy segments where he emotionally outburst as well, full meals for an actor of such great calibre. Akshaye Khanna steals the show with his menacing expressions and stylish presence, he truly owns his ruthless savage persona in every frame. Limited presence yet a meaty role for Madhavan, more to come in the second part and as of here his makeover is so detailed. Dummy role for Arjun Rampaul, though he is a key in executing terrorist acts, not even half of his acting potential has been brought out. The funky to damn serious transformation of Sanjay Dutt’s role did not make any sense, hence it was hard to enjoy his performance. Good that Sara Arjun debuts in Hindi in a big ticket flick as such, but her role could have been incorporated in an organic way, sadly her portions pull down the steam in the flow.

Technicalities: The full length songs are a bummer as they sound so generic. Immense variety in the background score that favours the flow. Overall musical treatment is unique for such an intense genre as the peppy bit-songs act as valuable assets. There are some inconsistent documentary pattern insert shots, yet the overall visual appeal is grand. The top-angle frames and the artist performances are perfectly captured. Powerful VFX as well as the raw bloodshed portions serves the filmmaker’s intention. A film that could have become several notches better in the edit table has become an excessively lengthy affair, there is a lot of scope to trim the lags and help the narrative with fast-paced cuts. Not much creativity in stunt choreography or setpieces, however the raw brutality is a feast for action lovers.

Verdict: A slick spy flick that has tremendous potential, the dramatic depth in the initial hour could not be held tightly due to the overlong runtime. Tries to discuss some deep politics but ends up as a confusing package mixing KGF and patriotism.

DHURANDHAR - Watchable Actioner that is Way-Too-Dragged!

Rating - 2.5/ 5.