Aditya Dhar’s “Dhurandhar” duology has become a watershed moment for Hindi cinema, marking a pronounced transformation in Bollywood’s narrative priorities and political allegiances. The initial chapter, released in December 2025, turned out to be the highest-grossing Hindi-language film in India before being split into two parts during post-production. Now, with the sequel “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” actively dominating cinemas nationwide, the espionage thriller is set to solidify what various commentators regard as a worrying change in Indian popular cinema: the comprehensive adoption of patriotic-inflected tales that explicitly court government favour and exploit patriotic feeling. The films’ brazen conflation of commercial entertainment and state narratives has revived discussions concerning Bollywood’s relationship with political power, especially during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.
From Intelligence Thriller to Political Declaration
The storytelling framework of the “Dhurandhar” duology demonstrates a calculated progression from entertainment to political messaging. The opening instalment strategically set before Modi’s 2014 election victory, sets up its political foundation through protagonists who consistently express their desperation for a leader willing to take forceful measures against both external and internal dangers. This strategic timing enables the story to present Modi’s subsequent rise to power as the answer to the country’s aspirations, transforming what appears to be a standard espionage film into an elaborate endorsement of the administration’s stance on national security and armed action.
The sequel heightens this promotional agenda by showcasing Modi himself as an almost omnipresent supporting character through strategically placed news footage and government broadcasts. Rather than enabling the fictional narrative to operate on its own, the filmmakers have woven the Prime Minister’s actual image and rhetoric throughout the story, effectively blurring the boundaries between entertainment and state communication. This deliberate narrative choice distinguishes the “Dhurandhar” films from prior cases of Bollywood’s political alignment, raising them from muted ideological content to explicit governmental advocacy that transforms cinema into a vehicle for political legitimacy.
- First film appeals for a powerful leader ahead of Modi’s election victory
- Sequel presents Modi in a supporting character via news clips
- Narrative conflates fictional heroism alongside government policy endorsement
- Films erase the distinction between entertainment and also state propaganda deliberately
The Development of Bollywood’s Ideological Shift
The box office performance of the “Dhurandhar” duology signals a significant shift in Bollywood’s relationship with nationalist thought and government authority. Whilst the Indian film industry has historically maintained close ties with political establishments, the explicit character of these films constitutes a meaningful change in how overtly cinema now conveys state communications. The franchise’s commercial supremacy—with the opening film emerging as the highest-grossing Hindi-language film in India upon its December release—shows that audiences are increasingly receptive to content that smoothly incorporates state messaging. This acceptance suggests a basic shift in what Indian audiences consider acceptable film content, moving beyond the understated ideological framing of earlier films toward direct governmental promotion.
The consequences of this change extend beyond mere entertainment metrics. By achieving extraordinary financial performance whilst openly conflating fictional heroism with governmental policy, the “Dhurandhar” films have effectively endorsed a novel framework for Bollywood production. Upcoming directors now have access to a established model for merging patriotic feeling with commercial success, potentially establishing state-aligned filmmaking as a enduring and profitable category. This development reflects larger cultural shifts within India, where the dividing lines separating entertainment, nationalism, and state messaging have become increasingly porous, prompting significant inquiries about cinema’s role in forming public awareness of politics and national identity.
A Pattern of Patriotic Cinema
The “Dhurandhar” duology does not emerge in a vacuum but rather constitutes the apotheosis of a expanding movement within contemporary Indian cinema. 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 productions share a shared ideological structure that reinterprets Indian history through a Hindu-centred perspective whilst depicting Muslims as fundamental dangers. However, what distinguishes the “Dhurandhar” films from these earlier works is their superior cinematic execution and production quality, which lend their propaganda a veneer of artistic legitimacy that more artless Islamophobic films lack.
This difference shows particularly troubling because the “Dhurandhar” duology’s cinematic craft and popular appeal mask its inherently ideological nature. Where films like “The Kashmir Files” serve as blunt political instruments, the “Dhurandhar” series deploys cinematic craft to make its political messaging appealing to general viewers. The franchise thus constitutes a dangerous evolution: propaganda elevated through expert direction into material bordering on state-sanctioned cinema. This refined method to ideological content may exert greater influence in affecting popular sentiment than overtly provocative films, as audiences may accept ideological content when it comes packaged in absorbing narrative.
Film Production Versus Political Narratives
The “Dhurandhar” duology’s most insidious quality lies in its fusion of technical excellence with ideological extremism. Director Aditya Dhar exhibits substantial expertise of the action-thriller format, assembling sequences of raw power and plot propulsion that engage audiences. This cinematic proficiency becomes problematic precisely because it acts as a conduit for ideological messaging, reshaping what might otherwise be crude political messaging into something considerably seductive and persuasive. The films’ glossy production values, skilled camera work, and strong performances by actors like Ranveer Singh add legitimacy to their deeply divisive narratives, turning their ideological messaging more digestible to wider audiences who might otherwise dismiss explicitly provocative content.
This intersection of creative excellence and propagandistic intent creates a unique challenge for film criticism and cultural analysis. Audiences often find it difficult to separate aesthetic appreciation from political analysis, particularly when entertainment appeal proves genuinely compelling. The “Dhurandhar” films leverage this conflict deliberately, banking on the notion that viewers absorbed in exciting action scenes will internalise their underlying messages without critical resistance. The danger intensifies because the films’ technical accomplishments bestow them credibility within critical discourse, enabling their nationalist ideals to spread more extensively and influence public opinion more successfully than earlier, more simplistic examples 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 converts propagandistic content into mass-market content
- Sophisticated filmmaking obscures ideological undertones from critical scrutiny
- Film technique raises nationalist rhetoric beyond blunt inflammatory language
The Concerning Ramifications for Indian Cinema
The commercial and critical success of the “Dhurandhar” duology signals a concerning trajectory for Indian cinema, one in which nationalistic sentiment increasingly determines box office performance and cultural importance. Where once Bollywood functioned as a forum for multiple perspectives and competing viewpoints, the rise of these patriotic suspense films suggests a contraction in acceptable discourse. The films’ unprecedented success indicates that audiences are growing more accepting of entertainment that openly champions state power and characterises opposition as treachery. This shift reflects increased public polarization, yet cinema’s unique capacity to shape shared cultural consciousness means its political orientation carry particular weight in affecting political attitudes and political attitudes.
The ramifications extend beyond mere entertainment preferences. When a country’s cinema sector consistently produces stories that celebrate government authority and vilify external enemies, it risks ossifying public opinion and restricting critical engagement with intricate international political dynamics. The “Dhurandhar” films illustrate this threat by portraying their perspective not as a single viewpoint amongst others, but as factual reality wrapped in technical excellence and star power. For critics and media analysts, this marks a pivotal turning point: Indian film industry’s transition from sometimes serving state interests to deliberately operating as a propaganda machine, albeit one far more sophisticated than its historical predecessors.
Propaganda Disguised as Entertainment
The insidious nature of the “Dhurandhar” duology lies in its intentional concealment of political messaging under layers of cinematic craft. Director Aditya Dhar develops intricate action set-pieces and character arcs that demand viewer engagement, deftly deflecting from the films’ relentless promotion of nationalist ideology and uncritical belief in state institutions. The protagonist’s journey, ostensibly a personal quest for redemption, works at once as a glorification of governmental power and military might. By weaving propagandistic content within entertaining narratives, the films achieve what cruder political messaging cannot: they convert ideology into spectacle, turning audiences complicit in their own ideological conditioning whilst considering themselves simply entertained.
This strategy proves particularly effective because it operates beneath active perception. Viewers captivated by exhilarating action sequences and intimate character scenes absorb the films’ fundamental narratives—that strong-handed government action is essential, that enemies are irredeemable, that self-sacrifice for national priorities is honourable—without acknowledging the manipulation occurring. The refined visual composition, engaging portrayals, and genuine technical accomplishment provide authenticity to these accounts, allowing them to look less like persuasive messaging and more like true storytelling. This veneer of legitimacy permits the films’ contentious beliefs to penetrate mainstream consciousness far more successfully than overtly inflammatory material ever would.
What This Implies for Worldwide Audiences
The global popularity of the “Dhurandhar” duology raises a troubling precedent for how state-backed cinema can transcend geographical boundaries and cultural differences. As streaming platforms like Netflix release these films globally, audiences in Western nations and beyond encounter advanced propagandistic content wrapped in the recognizable style of espionage thrillers and action cinema. Without the understanding of cultural and political contexts required to decode the films’ nationalist rhetoric, international viewers may inadvertently consume and legitimise Indian state ideology, substantially broadening the reach of propagandistic narratives far beyond their intended domestic audience. This worldwide distribution of politically charged content poses urgent questions about platform responsibility and the moral dimensions of distributing state-backed films to unaware overseas viewers.
Furthermore, the “Dhurandhar” films establish a concerning template that other countries might attempt to emulate. If state-aligned cinema can achieve both critical praise and financial returns whilst advancing nationalist agendas, other states—particularly those prone to authoritarianism—may acknowledge cinema as a exceptionally influential tool for the spread of ideology. The films illustrate that propaganda doesn’t have to be crude or obvious to be effective; rather, when paired with authentic creative talent and significant funding, it becomes almost inescapable. For worldwide audiences and cinema critics, the duology’s success indicates a concerning future where entertainment and government messaging become progressively harder to distinguish.
