Dhurandhar – Review

It is December 30, 1999 at a Kandahar airport. An Indian Airlines jumbo jet sits on a runway as a convoy of armed trucks drive through the desert and meet up with a cool cigarette smoking man, Ajay Sanyal (Madhaven), the Director of the Intelligence Bureau. This is the arrival of Devavra Kapoor, the Minister of External Affairs, who breaks the news that their situation is about to go public in the news. Negotiations have failed, and terrorists are about to kill hostages on the plane.

Despite this pressure, the bureau on scene try not to let him relent and give up on the talks. As the men walk inside to speak to the terrorists, the film hits you with extreme violence, which is a preview of the entire rest of the epic movie. If this is a turnoff now, may as well stop here. Ajay finds the hostages and lets them know that negotiations have been successful and they will be home in India soon.

The terrorist leader however has stark reminders of how close their borders are, and when more events rock the countryside in 2001, Ajay takes the spotlight again with Sushant Bansal (Gohil), Deputy Director. What will happen this time? And what about the long-term counter-measurement plan called Dhurandhar?

Dhurandhar is an eight chapter, three-and-a-half-hour action extravaganza of blood, gore, explosions, violence, bullets and carnage. It begins with terror and culture clashing, and rolls into a story of international espionage and infiltration. Covering multiple years, the length of the film may be intimidating, but it does constantly turn to action in order to try and keep people enthralled. However, it also fixates on graphic violence, presenting unflinching and realistic results. This makes for intense action, but also horrifying bodily harm and destruction across the board.

If you don’t want to see an elevator’s worth of blood, or have half a day to spend in front of a screen, maybe this one isn’t for you. The chapters will just keep rolling until you realize that there is a fucking sequel that is just as long. Oh, wait, it’s longer you say? Well, shit.

The film’s cameras result in a high-quality home movie type of intimacy, which is not to say it looks cheap, however the type used does produce a certain look. The music is mostly local flavor and bangs out appropriately to the scenery or action sequences, however those unfamiliar with Indian cinema may find it overwhelming at times.

The story draws on some real-life historical events and includes a few perspectives, cultural details and various characters from government workers to freedom fighters down to street level civilians. Due to its length it can also can take its time with developing characters or plotlines. Most of this is with purpose as the story’s core is interesting, however as an outsider I am not an expert on plenty of the politics.

There may be an excess of virtually everything with this film, but it was a box office success for a reason, and its insane action is worth it for those that can handle the extreme damage, and can pause to pee if they need as it is definitely too long. It may pack propaganda, but it makes for an interesting time.

“I will make it happen.”