Premise: After it is revealed at the end of the first part, that Ranveer Singh is an Indian Spy on a mission in Pakistan. His rise as a gangster, how he pins down the enemies to save his nation, the drama and war in his path forms the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction: Starts off with ‘The Burnt Memory’ of the protagonist, such a solid opening stretch to inject us with the emotional baggage of the central character. Then goes on to continue his sacrificial mission in Pakistan, resumes exactly from the end of the first part. Routine rise-of-the-hero stuff shown for an hour with no spark in the situations, as in he does not face much difficulties in grabbing the throne. These portions carry a much-seen commercial formula, just placing of the locality making the difference. The real drama begins with a solid twist in the pre-interval, it connects well with Ranveer’s past life and gets him shaken for a while. Like many predicted from the trailer, Sara Arjun does find out Ranveer’s real identity, which follows with a terrificly written monologue explaining the purpose of his mission. Then a chapter named ‘An Unknown Man’ takes over with the hero pinning down his enemies effortlessly without any hurdles. This episode is racy, but nothing interesting happens except for some heavy bloodshed killings. One stretch that really tested the patience was the Ranveer Singh versus Arjun Rampal face-off, it went on and on for almost half an hour. However the overall runtime of around 220 minutes never felt as an issue. Yes the writing could have been stronger highlighting the drama, yet the film manages to hold with some small hiccups as something or the other is constantly happening. The propaganda part does wonders, the demonetisation portion in particular, a skillful commercial value has gone through in presenting it. The research is evident, how deep the terrorism in Pakistan could affect our country’s economy and safety is shown very well. There are plenty of moments to cheer and clap for, it is nice to see Aditya Dhar, a Bollywood filmmaker getting the masala elements right, one aspect the industry truly lacked for the past few years. Placing the ‘URI: The Surgical Strike’ reference, which is his first movie and also a major achievement of the Indian Army Force. The climax twist is a firecracker, which came out of nowhere and changed the whole perspective of the story, one of the great assets of the film and the whole crowd is sure to go bonkers for the scene. While the mid-credit manages to display the initial training stages of the central character, the post-credit scene is just an after effect that felt like a forced fit.

Performances: Ranveer Singh gracefully fits in the dual-shade shoes, proving that he is irreplaceable for the role with his pitch-perfect makeup and body language. His performance in the emotional sequences beautifully showcase his acting mettle. Good screen space for Arjun Rampal and he has utilized it to his strengths. R.Madhavan carries a powerful presence and gets applauded in almost every scene he appears, such a bonafide character writing. Similar to the first part, Sanjay Dutt’s role felt weak and like a mere puppet. Not much importance for Sara Arjun, very minimal screen time and used more like a tool to move forward the story. Rakesh Bedi is the show-stealer, offering at least one laughter moment in every scene of his.

Technicalities:Songs are only in the form of montages, moreover the peppy tracks are placed to make the respective sequences punchy. Commendable background score throughout, silence matters in the flow, making the musical treatment on-point. Such quality product with a splendid visual outcome, rich cinematography exhibiting the glory of the geography and the slow-motion hero elevation shots supports the commercial flavour in the treatment. The flow is coherent with no glitches in the transitions, but there is scope to bring down the runtime, especially in the never ending hero-villain one on one action episode in the second half. Action choreography makes a huge impact, the brutality does highlight the seriousness of the subject and also holds the theatrical crowd.

Verdict:Topical direction, thumping music, first class visuals, Ranveer Singh’s magnetic presence hold the film together despite being a lengthy fair. Some solid twists with the frequently placed clap-worthy moments keep the momentum alive, while the writing could have been stronger with challenging situations for the hero.

DHURANDHAR: THE REVENGE - Dry patches do exist, yet an engaging watch!