Dhurandhar is a Hindi spy action thriller that reached theatres on 5 December 2025, with Aditya Dhar as its writer and director and Ranveer Singh in the lead role. It is the first part of a two part story. It runs for 214 minutes, which works out to 3 hours and 34 minutes, making it one of the longest Indian films in recent years. The film won praise for its cast and its large scale action scenes. It also drew debate for its length and for the way it mixes real events with fiction. Trade trackers put its worldwide gross at about ₹1,350 crore, which made it a huge commercial success. If you like spy stories with big action and a strong cast, this film is worth your time.
The Story
The story starts with a covert plan from Indian intelligence, approved after a terror attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001. Top officers clear a secret mission called Operation Dhurandhar. Its aim is to break a terror network that works from across the border and targets India. To do this, an undercover agent must go deep into enemy ground and live there like an ordinary local man, far from any support. The agent reaches Lyari, a tough part of Karachi, in 2004. There he lives a plain life, works as a waiter and stays with a local shop owner. Slowly he learns how the area works, while two rival gangs fight for control of Lyari and its streets.
One gang is led by Rehman Dakait, and the other is led by Rehman’s own father, Babu Dakait, along with his ally Arshad Pappu. The agent must win trust in this world of gangs, guns and local politics, and he must also find the link between the gangs, rich businessmen and men who plan attacks on India. The film draws loose ideas from real events in South Asia. These include the 1999 IC-814 hijack, the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. It also draws on the long fight against crime in Lyari, but it is not a true life story, since the makers mix real events with made up scenes and people. That mix is one reason the film drew both praise and debate. The plot stays tense from start to end, and each new twist raises the risk for the agent. Viewers who enjoy slow and detailed spy dramas will like this pace, though those who want a fast and light film may find it heavy.
Cast and Performances
Ranveer Singh leads the cast as the undercover agent. He is a man who must hide his true self each day in a hostile city. He changes his speech, his walk and his mood to fit in with the gang world, and critics praised his intense and physical act. Many called it one of his most committed roles in years, and his look in the film, with long hair and a beard, also got a lot of talk on social media. Akshaye Khanna plays Rehman Dakait, the feared gang chief of Lyari. His calm and cold style won wide praise from reviewers. Many reviews said that he steals each scene he is in, which is high praise in a film full of strong actors.
Sanjay Dutt plays SP Chaudhary Aslam, a tough police officer who leads a task force against the gangs of Lyari. Arjun Rampal plays Major Iqbal, an officer who works in the shadows and pulls strings from behind the scenes. R. Madhavan plays Ajay Sanyal, the intelligence chief who runs the secret mission from India with a steady hand. Sara Arjun plays Yalina, the young daughter of a local politician, and her role adds a soft and human side to a hard and violent world. The support cast is large and strong, with Rakesh Bedi as the politician Jameel Jamali and Gaurav Gera as Mohammed Aalam, the shop owner who gives the agent a home. Danish Pandor plays Uzair Baloch, Rehman’s cousin and right hand man, while Manav Gohil plays a senior intelligence officer in Delhi. The film also has many small roles that fill out the world of Lyari, and the cast as a whole is the main strength of the film.
Direction, Action and Music
Aditya Dhar directs the film. He is known for Uri: The Surgical Strike from 2019, another military action drama. In Dhurandhar he builds a dark and detailed world. The streets, markets and homes of Lyari feel real and lived in. Vikash Nowlakha shot the film, and his camera work won praise for its scale and mood, while Shivkumar V. Panicker handled the editing. The shoot took place from July 2024 to October 2025. The team filmed in Punjab, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, as well as in Thailand. Both parts of the story were shot at the same time, which shows the scale of the plan behind the film.
The action scenes are raw and brutal, with fights, chases and gun battles filling a large part of the film. The makers keep the violence high, and the film carries an adult rating in India, which is one more reason it drew debate. Fans of action films praised the scale and the craft of these scenes, and the sound and score add to the tension in each key moment. Shashwat Sachdev made the music, with lyrics by Irshad Kamil, in his second film with Dhar after Uri. The title track came out on 15 October 2025, with vocals by Hanumankind and Jasmine Sandlas, as a new take on a 1995 Punjabi song. The second song, “Ishq Jalakar (Karvaan)”, came out on 25 November 2025 as a new take on a classic qawwali from Barsaat Ki Raat (1960). The third song, “Gehra Hua”, came out on 27 November 2025, and the full album came out on 1 December 2025, just days before the film hit screens. The music rights are with Saregama, the score won praise from critics, and the songs did well with fans.
Box Office and Verdict
Dhurandhar did huge business at the box office, crossing ₹1,000 crore worldwide within three weeks of its release. Trade trackers list its final worldwide gross at about ₹1,350 crore, with Koimoi listing ₹1,354.84 crore. That made it the highest grossing Indian film of 2025 and one of the highest grossing Indian films of all time. The film also did well abroad, with strong shows in key overseas markets, and its long run time did not stop crowds from coming back for repeat shows. Word of mouth stayed strong for weeks, which is rare for a film of this length and intensity.
Reviews were mixed to positive. Critics praised the cast, the direction, the camera work, the action and the music. They also praised the production design and the world of the film, while the main complaints were the long run time and the mix of fact and fiction. Some critics said the film feels like propaganda at times, and the film was also banned from theatres in several Gulf countries. But none of this hurt its box office run, and the makers had planned two parts from the start, with the second part, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, reaching theatres on 19 March 2026. If you missed it in theatres, you can watch the first film on Netflix, where it started streaming on 30 January 2026, though the Netflix cut runs a few minutes shorter than the theatre cut.
For fans of spy thrillers, the film is a must watch for its cast and its scale, but go in ready for a long and intense ride. You will find a gripping story at its core, with strong turns from Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna in particular. You can explore more films in the same genre on the Bollywood Movies page, or browse the full Movies section. The MoviesDa homepage has the latest posts, and if you like South Indian action dramas, our piece on Valimai is also worth a read. For full credits and details, see the film’s Wikipedia page and the trade figures on Koimoi.
Dhurandhar is a bold and big spy saga, with a strong cast, sharp action and a story that stays with you after it ends. Its length and its politics will divide views, but as pure cinema it is one of the most talked about Hindi films of recent years. Watch it for Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna, and stay for a tense tale of spies, gangs and secret wars.
