Anurag Kashyap lauds 'Dhurandhar's honesty but slams the politics: ‘Aditya Dhar is a Kashmiri Pandit who has suffered’

Eminent filmmaker Anurag Kashyap recently posted on his thoughts on the hit historical spy action film ‘Dhurandhar' on a reviewing platform. Kashyap praised its filmmaking as "top-notch" but pointed out issues with two specific sequences.

Anurag Kashyap shares his review on 'Dhurandhar'

In his review on Letterboxd, Kashyap said, “A spy cannot be a spy if he doesn’t have hate and angst against the enemy state. A soldier also cannot be a soldier if he doesn’t have angst against the enemy state. On those two counts, I have no issues,” the filmmaker wrote in his review.




However, Anurag highlighted two specific dialogues in ‘Dhurandhar’ that reveal its political stance, confessing they bother him. “I have two sequences that I have a problem with. Madhavan says, ‘Ek din aisa ayega jab jo bff desh ke baare mein koi sochega’ and another at the end when Ranveer says, ‘Yeh naya India hai.’ Take those two aside, it’s a good film. In fact, a brilliant film that is entirely set in Pakistan,” argued Kashyap.

Kashyap described Dhurandhar's filmmaking as “top-notch” and praised director Aditya Dhar’s “stubbornness.” He drew parallels to Oscar-winning U.S. propaganda films like Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘The Hurt Locker’ (2009), ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012), and ‘A House of Dynamite’ (2024).

Kashyap has known ‘Dhurandhar’ director Aditya Dhar since his National Award-winning 2009 short 'Boond', where he contributed as a writer, and he showered the filmmaker with praise. “Agree or disagree with it, the man is honest. Not an opportunist like others. All his films are about Kashmir. He is a Kashmiri Pandit who has suffered. Either you argue with him or let him be,” added Kashyap. He mentioned that while he might phone Dhar to debate the movie's politics, he acknowledges its “significant” value. “And Ranveer Singh being my favourite performance. So secure,” concluded the filmmaker.

About ‘Dhurandhar’

The main cast of 'Dhurandhar' includes Ranveer Singh as Hamza Ali Mazari / Jaskirat Singh, Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait, Sanjay Dutt as SP Chaudhary Aslam, R. Madhavan as Ajay Sanyal, Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal, and Sara Arjun as Yalina Jamali.