Aditya Dhar’s “Dhurandhar” duology has emerged as a landmark achievement for Hindi cinema, indicating a dramatic shift in Bollywood’s subject matter focus and political allegiances. The first instalment, launched in December 2025, proved to be the top-earning Hindi film in India before being split into two parts in the post-production phase. Now, with the follow-up “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” currently dominating cinemas across the country, the intelligence-based narrative is poised to cement what various commentators consider to be a worrying change in Indian mainstream film: the wholesale embrace of patriotic-inflected tales that openly seek government favour and capitalise on nationalist sentiment. The films’ unabashed fusion of commercial entertainment and state narratives has rekindled conversations around Bollywood’s relationship with political power, particularly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.
From Intelligence Thriller to Political Manifesto
The narrative structure of the “Dhurandhar” duology reveals a strategic movement from escapism to ideological advocacy. The opening instalment strategically set before Modi’s 2014 election victory, establishes its ideological framework through protagonists who consistently express their desperation for a figure prepared to pursue decisive action against both external and internal dangers. This temporal positioning enables the story to frame Modi’s later ascent to leadership as the solution for the nation’s prayers, transforming what appears to be a standard espionage film into an comprehensive validation of the administration’s stance on homeland defence and armed action.
The sequel intensifies this ideological drive by showcasing Modi himself as an near-constant supporting character through deliberately inserted news footage and government broadcasts. Rather than allowing the fictional narrative to stand independently, the filmmakers have interwoven the Prime Minister’s genuine appearance and rhetoric throughout the story, significantly erasing the boundaries between entertainment and government messaging. This intentional storytelling decision distinguishes the “Dhurandhar” films from prior cases of Bollywood’s political alignment, raising them from muted ideological content to direct state promotion that transforms cinema into a tool for political validation.
- First film calls for a powerful leader before Modi’s election victory
- Sequel includes Modi in a supporting character via news clips
- Narrative merges fictional heroism with government policy approval
- Films blur the distinction between entertainment and also state propaganda by design
The Transformation of Bollywood’s Philosophical Change
The box office performance of the “Dhurandhar” duology indicates a significant shift in Bollywood’s connection to nationalist thought and government authority. Whilst the Indian film industry has traditionally upheld close ties with political establishments, the explicit character of these films constitutes a meaningful change in how directly cinema now channels governmental messaging. The franchise’s commercial supremacy—with the opening film emerging as the top-earning Hindi film in India following its December launch—shows that viewers are growing more receptive to content that smoothly incorporates state messaging. This receptiveness suggests a fundamental change in what Indian audiences consider acceptable cinematic content, progressing past the subtle ideological positioning of prior cinema toward direct governmental promotion.
The consequences of this transition extend beyond mere entertainment metrics. By attaining unprecedented commercial success whilst openly conflating cinematic heroics with state policy, the “Dhurandhar” films have effectively legitimised a new template for Indian film production. Upcoming directors now possess a proven blueprint for merging nationalist sentiment with box office returns, potentially establishing state-aligned filmmaking as a enduring and profitable category. This shift demonstrates broader societal transformations within India, where the dividing lines separating cinema, patriotism, and official discourse have become increasingly porous, prompting critical questions about the cinema’s influence in influencing political consciousness and national identity.
A Example of National Cinema
The “Dhurandhar” duology does not appear in a vacuum but rather constitutes the apotheosis of a expanding movement within modern Indian film. Recent years have seen a surge of films utilising nationalist messaging and anti-Muslim narratives, including “The Kashmir Files,” “The Kerala Story,” and “The Taj Story.” These films possess a shared ideological structure that recasts Indian history through a Hindu-centric lens whilst depicting Muslims as fundamental dangers. However, what distinguishes the “Dhurandhar” films from these earlier works is their better filmmaking craft and production values, which give their propaganda a sheen of artistic credibility that more artless Islamophobic films do not possess.
This distinction demonstrates especially problematic because the “Dhurandhar” two-film series’ technical sophistication and audience engagement mask its fundamentally propagandistic nature. Where films like “The Kashmir Files” operate as blunt political instruments, the “Dhurandhar” series utilises filmmaking expertise to render its political messaging palatable to general viewers. The franchise thus represents a dangerous evolution: propaganda elevated through professional filmmaking into material bordering on officially-backed production. This sophisticated approach to political narrative may become increasingly impactful in shaping public opinion than more obviously inflammatory films, as audiences may absorb ideological content when it comes packaged in compelling entertainment.
Film Production Versus Political Communication
The “Dhurandhar” duology’s most insidious quality lies in its combination of production sophistication with ideological extremism. Director Aditya Dhar demonstrates considerable mastery of the thriller genre, crafting sequences of emotional force and narrative momentum that enthrall audiences. This cinematic proficiency becomes contentious precisely because it serves as a conduit for ideological messaging, transforming what might otherwise be blunt political content into something far more alluring and convincing. The films’ polished aesthetic, accomplished visual composition, and powerful acting by actors like Ranveer Singh lend credibility to their deeply divisive narratives, rendering their political content more acceptable to general audiences who might otherwise spurn explicitly provocative content.
This intersection of artistic merit and ideological messaging creates a distinctive difficulty for film criticism and cultural analysis. Audiences frequently struggle to separate aesthetic appreciation from political analysis, especially when entertainment appeal proves genuinely compelling. The “Dhurandhar” films exploit this conflict deliberately, relying on the notion that audiences engaged with exciting action scenes will internalise their embedded messaging without critical resistance. The risk intensifies because the films’ technical achievements bestow them legitimacy within critical conversation, enabling their nationalist ideals to circulate more widely and influence public consciousness more successfully than cruder predecessors ever could.
| Film | Narrative Strength |
|---|---|
| Dhurandhar | Espionage intrigue with compelling character development and moral ambiguity |
| Dhurandhar: The Revenge | Political thriller capitalising on nationalist sentiment and state apparatus mythology |
| The Kashmir Files | Historical narrative lacking cinematic sophistication or narrative complexity |
- Technical excellence transforms ideological material into mainstream entertainment
- Advanced cinematography obscures political messaging from rigorous analysis
- Cinematic craft lifts patriotic messaging beyond blunt inflammatory language
The Troubling Implications for Indian Cinema
The commercial and critical success of the “Dhurandhar” duology indicates a worrying trajectory for Indian cinema, one in which patriotic fervor progressively shapes box office performance and cultural importance. Where once Bollywood operated as a forum for multiple perspectives and differing opinions, the ascendancy of these nationalist action films suggests a narrowing of acceptable discourse. The films’ unprecedented success indicates that audiences are growing more accepting of entertainment that explicitly validates state power and positions dissent as treachery. This shift reflects increased public polarization, yet cinema’s particular power to shape public imagination means its political orientation carry particular weight in affecting political attitudes and political attitudes.
The implications go further than mere entertainment preferences. When a country’s cinema sector regularly generates narratives that celebrate government authority and demonise foreign adversaries, it risks ossifying public opinion and limiting critical engagement with complex geopolitical realities. The “Dhurandhar” films illustrate this risk by portraying their perspective not as a single viewpoint amongst others, but as objective truth packaged with technical excellence and star power. For critics and cultural observers, this constitutes a pivotal turning point: Indian film industry’s transition from occasionally accommodating government objectives to deliberately operating as a propaganda machine, albeit one far more sophisticated than its earlier incarnations.
Propaganda Dressed up as Entertainment
The insidious nature of the “Dhurandhar” duology stems from its deliberate obfuscation of political messaging within layers of cinematic craft. Director Aditya Dhar constructs elaborate action sequences and character arcs that capture audience attention, successfully diverting from the films’ persistent advancement of nationalist ideology and unquestioning faith in state institutions. The protagonist’s journey, purportedly a personal quest for redemption, functions simultaneously as a exaltation of governmental power and military might. By incorporating propagandistic content inside compelling stories, the films accomplish what cruder political messaging cannot: they reshape ideology into spectacle, turning audiences complicit in their own ideological conditioning whilst considering themselves simply entertained.
This strategy shows particularly successful because it functions beneath deliberate notice. Viewers captivated by exhilarating action sequences and poignant character development internalise the films’ core themes—that strong-handed government action is necessary, that opponents cannot change, that individual sacrifice for governmental objectives is worthy—without acknowledging the manipulation taking place. The refined visual composition, powerful acting, and real technical skill add legitimacy to these accounts, making them appear less like propaganda and more like true storytelling. This surface credibility allows the films’ polarising worldview to infiltrate general understanding far more effectively than openly divisive messaging ever would.
What This Means for Global Audiences
The global popularity of the “Dhurandhar” duology presents a troubling pattern for how state-aligned cinema can cross geographic borders and cultural contexts. As streaming services like Netflix distribute these films globally, audiences in Western countries and beyond encounter sophisticated propaganda wrapped in the recognizable style of espionage thrillers and action cinema. Without the cultural and political literacy required to decode the films’ nationalist rhetoric, overseas audiences may inadvertently consume and legitimise Indian state-sponsored ideology, substantially broadening the reach of propagandistic narratives far outside their original domestic viewership. This worldwide distribution of politically charged content poses critical concerns about platform accountability and the ethical implications of circulating state-sponsored cinema to unsuspecting international audiences.
Furthermore, the “Dhurandhar” films set a disquieting template that other nations might attempt to emulate. If government-backed film can secure both critical recognition and financial returns whilst promoting nationalist agendas, other states—particularly those with authoritarian leanings—may recognise cinema as a exceptionally influential tool for ideological propagation. The films demonstrate that propaganda need not be crude or obvious to be effective; rather, when coupled with genuine artistic talent and significant funding, it becomes almost inescapable. For worldwide audiences and cinema critics, the duology’s success indicates a troubling outlook where entertainment and state messaging become progressively harder to distinguish.
