Dhurandhar - Review

Watched Dhurandhar today in a cinema hall after a very long gap from Hindi movies on the big screen, and it was absolutely worth it. It was completely unplanned – on a whim, Priti and I decided to go to a cinema hall, found a Hindi movie playing nearby, and booked the 4:10 pm show at 3:45 pm. We didn’t know who were the actors in the movie, when was it released, rating - nothing.

Dhurandhar is a lot to take in – literally the longest Hindi film in 17 years – nearly three-and-a-half hours, very violent, very loud, very extra. But it never felt boring.

Everyone in the cast was fantastic. It was such a fun surprise to see both Rakesh Bedi and Gaurav Gera. It was also a joy to watch Akshaye Khanna after so many years. I’ve been a fan of his since Border, and he still holds the screen with that same quiet intensity. R. Madhavan and Sanjay Dutt were great as usual and Arjun Rampal was properly menacing. Ranveer Singh was simply phenomenal. Sara Arjun, who is just 20, showed her skills even with limited screen time.

The violence is definitely not for the faint-hearted. That was the part Priti didn’t enjoy. But despite the brutality on screen, both of us walked out genuinely loving the movie and the experience of watching it together.

After a long time, a Hindi movie in a theatre felt worth every minute.