Dhurandhar is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language spy action thriller film written and directed by Aditya Dhar. It is produced by Aditya Dhar, Lokesh Dhar and Jyoti Deshpande under Jio Studios and B62 Studios. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Gaurav Gera, and Danish Pandor alongside several supporting actors. The first instalment of a duology, it centres on a high-stakes covert counter-terrorism operation. The film follows an undercover Indian intelligence agent who infiltrates Karachi's criminal syndicates and political power structures in Pakistan in an effort to dismantle a terror network targeting India.
The film's storyline draws loose inspiration from multiple real-life geopolitical events and conflicts in South Asia, including the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and developments linked to Pakistan's Operation Lyari. Principal photography for Dhurandhar took place from July 2024 to October 2025 across multiple locations in India and abroad, including the states and union territories of Punjab, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, as well as Thailand. The film features music composed by Shashwat Sachdev, cinematography by Vikash Nowlakha, and editing by Shivkumar V. Panicker. With a runtime of 214 minutes, Dhurandhar ranks as one of the longest Indian films ever produced.
Dhurandhar was released theatrically on 5 December 2025 and received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its cast performances, direction, cinematography, action sequences, musical score, and production design, with criticism directed towards its extended runtime. The film also attracted controversy for its blending of fictional elements with real historical events, with some commentators describing it as propagandistic. Commercially, the film achieved significant box-office success, grossing over 1,000 crore worldwide within three weeks of release, having beat multiple records, including being the fifth-highest-grossing Indian film, second highest-grossing A-rated Indian film, and the second highest-grossing Hindi film worldwide at the time of its release.
The film was banned from theatrical release in several Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Despite an official ban on Indian films in Pakistan since 2019, Dhurandhar was reportedly downloaded two million times through piracy sites in the country. A direct sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, was released on 19 March 2026.
Plot
On 30 December 1999, Minister of External Affairs Devavrat Kapoor and Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) Ajay Sanyal negotiate with terrorist Zahoor Mistry to release three terrorists and pay a US$10 million ransom in exchange for the lives of airline passengers held captive in Kandahar. Though R&AW Special Secretary K. S. Bhullar rejects Sanyal's proposal to infiltrate terrorist networks in Pakistan, Kapoor later authorises Sanyal's covert "Operation Dhurandhar" following the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.
Sanyal sends agent Hamza Ali Mazari into Pakistan via the Torkham border crossing in Afghanistan, in the year 2004. In the Lyari suburb of Karachi, Hamza befriends Mohammed Aalam, a juice-shop owner, moves in with him, and works as a waiter while studying local gang politics. As a Baloch, Hamza can align only with the gang led by gangster Rehman Dakait and his cousin and deputy Uzair Baloch.
Hamza learns a rival Pathan gang, led by Rehman's estranged father Babu Dakait, plans to kill Rehman's eldest son Naieem Baloch. Babu's men attack a wedding attended by Naieem and his younger brother Faizal; Hamza saves Faizal, but Naieem is killed. At the hospital, Rehman and Uzair note Hamza's firearm skills and recruit him. Jameel Jamali of the Pakistan Awami Party (PAP) urges Uzair not to retaliate before the Lyari election, but Hamza encourages revenge. Rehman's gang massacres Babu's men, and Rehman brutally murders Babu with a weighing stone, proclaiming Baloch dominance over Lyari.
At a PAP rally, Hamza meets Jameel's young daughter Yalina and begins a relationship with her. Rehman is introduced to Major Iqbal of the ISI by the Khanani brothers, businessmen who are nudging Rehman into politics; Iqbal requests weapons and ammunition. Hamza learns about Iqbal's counterfeit-currency operation and witnesses him brutally torture an Indian spy. Hamza relays this information to Aalam, who informs Sanyal; the IB suspects Pakistan possesses Indian currency plates. While transporting weapons, Hamza uncovers plans for a major terror attack on India and alerts the IB.
Rehman's alliance with the Khananis marginalises Jameel politically. Backed by Major Iqbal, Rehman enters politics and declares an alliance between his party the People's Aman Committee, and the PAP of Aquib Ali Zarwari. Jameel responds by recruiting suspended Superintendent of Police Chaudhary Aslam to eliminate Rehman, leading to the formation of the Lyari Task Force (LTF). Aslam arrests Rehman during a weapons run. Hamza counters by sending Jameel a video recorded by Yalina, exposing Jameel's collusion with Aslam and gangster Arshad Pappu. When Aslam refuses to release Rehman, Hamza forces compliance by livestreaming himself and Uzair torturing captured LTF officers.
Despite Hamza's intelligence, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack occurs. Traumatized, Hamza and Aalam resolve to dismantle Pakistan's terror infrastructure. Hamza secretly proposes to Jameel that by marrying Yalina, he will rule Lyari while granting Jameel lasting influence. He then conspires with Jameel and Aslam to eliminate Rehman. At Hamza and Yalina's wedding, Major Iqbal requests another weapons shipment. Exploiting Rehman's drunkenness, Hamza schedules the delivery to coincide with another engagement, creating an ambush opportunity. On the day of delivery, Hamza sends Uzair to the shipment site while driving Rehman to Aslam's trap. Rehman realises the betrayal mid-journey; a violent struggle follows, ending in a crash. Hamza escapes, kills two of Rehman's henchmen, and helps Aslam subdue Rehman, who later dies from his injuries in the hospital.
Hamza's real identity is revealed to be Jaskirat Singh Rangi, an Indian death-row inmate turned covert operative for Ajay Sanyal. With Rehman eliminated, he consolidates power in Lyari and prepares to target "Bade Sahab", the architect of multiple Pakistani terror attacks.
Cast
Production
The film was officially announced in July 2024 by Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar on their social media accounts. The official title was revealed in December 2024. Principal photography took place from July 2024 to October 2025 across India and Thailand. Initially conceived as a single film, the project was later split into two parts due to its scale and narrative complexity, with both instalments shot concurrently as a single project.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by Shashwat Sachdev, in his second collaboration with Dhar after Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019). The songs featured lyrics written by Irshad Kamil. Justin Jose served as the re-recording mixer for the film. The music rights were acquired by Saregama.
The title track was released on 15 October 2025. Featuring vocals by Hanumankind and Jasmine Sandlas, it is a remake of the 1995 Punjabi-language song "Na Dil De Pardesi Nu" sung by Muhammad Sadiq and Ranjit Kaur, composed by Charanjit Ahuja and written by Babu Singh Maan. The second single titled "Ishq Jalakar (Karvaan)" was released on 25 November 2025, ahead of its schedule due to high public demand. This song was a recreated version of the Hindi Qawwali "Na To Karvan Ki Talash Hai" from Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), sung by Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, Sudha Malhotra, S. D. Batish & Mohammed Rafi, composed by Roshan and written by Sahir Ludhianavi.
The third single "Gehra Hua" was released on 27 November 2025. The full album was released on 1 December 2025. The extended album with five additional songs was released on 10 December 2025.
Marketing A first-look poster and a teaser were released on 6 July 2025, coinciding with Singh's 40th birthday. The teaser featured vocals by Jasmine Sandlas and Hanumankind. The trailer was originally scheduled to release on 12 November. It was postponed due to the 2025 Delhi car explosion. Later, it was released on 18 November 2025 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai. The teaser and trailer were edited by Ojas Gautam, Dhar's brother-in-law, who also served as a second unit director and additional screenwriter for the film. The audio launch took place on 1 December 2025.
While promoting the film at the 56th International Film Festival of India in Goa, Singh received backlash for mimicking a sacred deva ritual, which some people found to be disrespectful towards the Bhoota Kola tradition of the Tulu people. He later issued a formal apology. In January 2026, an FIR was filed against Singh for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
Release
Theatrical Dhurandhar was released worldwide on 5 December 2025. The film received an A (adults only) certificate from the CBFC for strong violence, along with a finalised runtime of 214 minutes after some violent visuals and profanities were censored. It was received well in North America, crossing over USD 2 million in its first weekend and continued to perform well across the US, UK, Australia and parts of Europe, helping it top ₹200 crore in overseas markets. The film was de facto banned across countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
On 31 December 2025, the distributors replaced the film's Digital Cinema Package (DCP) across India with an altered version. The changes included muting words like 'Baloch' and 'intelligence' after they were 'found to be offensive to certain communities'. Previously, the filmmakers received a legal notice from members of the Baloch community, which accused them of defaming the Baloch. Objections were raised in particular to a line "You can trust crocodiles but not the Baloch".
The film was re-released again in India on 12 March 2026 while in the overseas it was released on 13 March 2026. The re-release happened in more than 1,000 screens worldwide, ahead of the release of the sequel. The film was released in Japan on 10 July 2026.
Distribution The film was distributed by PVR Inox Pictures in areas of Central India, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Home media The digital streaming rights for the first part were acquired by Netflix for ₹85 crore. The film began streaming on Netflix from 30 January 2026 in Hindi along with dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu languages. The streaming release had 9 minutes cut from the film's original theatrical version, making this version's runtime 205 minutes (3 hours and 25 minutes). However, mostly statutory disclaimers regarding smoking were removed from the digital version to streamline the pace of the film.
Later, Netflix reported the film trended at number one in 22 nations globally, most notably in Middle Eastern and Asian countries. The film, with 7.6 million views, also became the first Indian film to cross 7 million views on Netflix within its first weekend, surpassing films like Animal, Fighter and Pushpa 2: The Rule. It was also the number one non-English film on Netflix in its first week.
Reports regarding the Netflix version were mixed, with viewers claiming that the release appeared to be censored, with several scenes cut compared to the theatrical version, and that the colour grading was inferior to that of the theatrical release. The film was reportedly downloaded 2 million times through piracy sites within a week in Pakistan, becoming the most pirated film in the country where Indian films are banned since 2019. The uncut version of the film (marketed as "Raw & Undekha") began streaming on both Netflix and JioHotstar from 22 May 2026.
Reception Critical reception