Aditya Dhar’s “Dhurandhar” duology has become a landmark achievement for Hindi cinema, marking a pronounced transformation in Bollywood’s thematic preoccupations and ideological positions. The initial chapter, released in December 2025, became the top-earning Hindi film in India before being separated into two parts throughout the editing process. Now, with the follow-up “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” currently dominating cinemas nationwide, the spy saga is poised to cement what many observers consider to be a troubling shift in Indian popular cinema: the comprehensive adoption of jingoistic narratives that deliberately pursue government favour and leverage nationalist sentiment. The films’ overt blending of entertainment and governmental messaging has reignited conversations around Bollywood’s relationship with political power, particularly under PM Narendra Modi’s administration.
From Spy Thriller to Political Declaration
The narrative structure of the “Dhurandhar” duology demonstrates a calculated progression from entertainment to ideological advocacy. The opening instalment deliberately positioned before Modi’s 2014 election victory, establishes its ideological framework through protagonists who consistently express their desperation for a leader willing to take decisive action against both external and internal threats. This temporal positioning allows the narrative to frame Modi’s subsequent rise to power as the answer to the country’s aspirations, converting what seems like a conventional spy thriller into an comprehensive validation of the administration’s approach to homeland defence and armed action.
The sequel intensifies this ideological drive by showcasing Modi himself as an virtually ever-present supporting character through deliberately inserted news footage and government broadcasts. Rather than allowing the fictional narrative to operate on its own, the filmmakers have interwoven the Prime Minister’s genuine appearance and rhetoric throughout the story, effectively blurring the boundaries between entertainment and government messaging. This calculated narrative approach distinguishes the “Dhurandhar” films from previous instances of Bollywood’s political positioning, raising them from subtle ideological positioning to overt political backing that transforms cinema into a vehicle for political legitimacy.
- First film appeals for a powerful leader before Modi’s election victory
- Sequel includes Modi in a supporting character through news clips
- Narrative conflates fictional heroism alongside government policy endorsement
- Films blur the distinction between entertainment and also state propaganda deliberately
The Transformation of Bollywood’s Philosophical Change
The commercial success of the “Dhurandhar” duology signals a profound transformation in Bollywood’s connection to nationalist ideology and state power. Whilst the Indian cinema sector has historically maintained close ties with political structures, the brazen nature of these films constitutes a meaningful change in how directly cinema now channels governmental messaging. The franchise’s commercial supremacy—with the opening film emerging as the highest-grossing Hindi-language film in India following its December launch—demonstrates that audiences are increasingly receptive to content that smoothly incorporates state messaging. This receptiveness indicates a fundamental change in what Indian audiences consider acceptable cinematic content, progressing past the understated ideological framing of earlier films toward explicit state advocacy.
The consequences of this change go beyond mere entertainment metrics. By attaining remarkable box office gains whilst openly conflating cinematic heroics with governmental policy, the “Dhurandhar” films have effectively legitimised a fresh blueprint for Bollywood production. Future filmmakers now possess a proven blueprint for merging patriotic feeling with financial gains, conceivably fostering propagandistic cinema as a sustainable and profitable category. This development indicates wider social changes within India, where the dividing lines separating entertainment, nationalism, and state messaging have grown more blurred, raising critical questions about film’s function in influencing political consciousness and national identity.
A Pattern of Patriotic Cinema
The “Dhurandhar” duology does not emerge in a vacuum but rather constitutes the culmination of a expanding movement within modern Indian film. Recent years have seen a surge of films utilising nationalist rhetoric and anti-Muslim narratives, including “The Kashmir Files,” “The Kerala Story,” and “The Taj Story.” These films possess a shared ideological structure that reinterprets Indian history through a Hindu-centred perspective whilst depicting Muslims as existential threats. However, what sets apart the “Dhurandhar” films from these earlier works is their better filmmaking craft and production quality, which lend their propaganda a veneer of artistic legitimacy that more crude anti-Muslim productions do not possess.
This difference shows especially troubling because the “Dhurandhar” duology’s production quality and popular appeal mask its essentially propagandist nature. Where films like “The Kashmir Files” function as simplistic propagandist instruments, the “Dhurandhar” series deploys professional technique to present its ideological content palatable to general viewers. The franchise thus embodies a concerning development: ideological content enhanced through sophisticated production into material bordering on state-sanctioned cinema. This sophisticated approach to nationalist messaging may exert greater influence in shaping public opinion than more obviously inflammatory films, as audiences may absorb political messaging when it arrives wrapped in absorbing narrative.
Filmmaking Artistry Versus Political Narratives
The “Dhurandhar” duology’s most troubling quality lies in its marriage of cinematic mastery with ideological extremism. Director Aditya Dhar displays substantial expertise of the action thriller genre, constructing sequences of raw power and plot propulsion that enthrall audiences. This filmmaking skill becomes problematic precisely because it serves as a vehicle for ideological messaging, converting what might otherwise be overt political rhetoric into something considerably seductive and persuasive. The films’ refined visual presentation, sophisticated cinematography, and compelling performances by actors like Ranveer Singh provide plausibility to their deeply divisive narratives, making their political message more palatable to general audiences who might otherwise reject blatantly incendiary messaging.
This convergence of creative excellence and propagandistic intent establishes a unique challenge for film criticism and cultural commentary. Audiences often find it difficult to distinguish between artistic enjoyment from political critique, especially when entertainment value proves genuinely compelling. The “Dhurandhar” films leverage this tension deliberately, banking on the notion that viewers absorbed in exciting action scenes will absorb their underlying messages without critical resistance. The risk intensifies because the films’ technical achievements bestow them legitimacy within critical conversation, allowing their nationalist ideals to spread more extensively and shape public consciousness more successfully than cruder predecessors 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 |
- Skilled craftsmanship transforms propagandistic content into mass-market content
- Polished production techniques masks ideological messaging from close examination
- Filmmaking skill elevates nationalist rhetoric above blunt inflammatory language
The Troubling Consequences for Indian Film Industry
The box office and critical success of the “Dhurandhar” duology signals a concerning trajectory for Indian cinema, one in which nationalistic sentiment grows to influence box office performance and cultural significance. Where once Bollywood served as a forum for multiple perspectives and differing opinions, the ascendancy of these patriotic suspense films suggests a contraction in acceptable discourse. The films’ extraordinary performance indicates that audiences are growing more accepting of entertainment that openly champions state power and positions dissent as treachery. This shift reflects wider social division, yet cinema’s particular power to shape shared cultural consciousness means its ideological leanings carry significant influence in influencing public consciousness and political attitudes.
The implications go further than mere entertainment preferences. When a nation’s film industry consistently produces stories that glorify government authority and demonise foreign adversaries, it risks calcifying public opinion and restricting critical engagement with intricate international political dynamics. The “Dhurandhar” films exemplify this risk by presenting their worldview not as one perspective among many, but as factual reality wrapped in production quality and star power. For commentators and media analysts, this constitutes a watershed moment: Indian cinema’s transition from occasionally accommodating government objectives to deliberately operating as a propaganda machine, albeit one considerably more refined than its historical predecessors.
Propaganda Presented as Entertainment
The pernicious nature of the “Dhurandhar” duology lies in its intentional concealment of political messaging within layers of cinematic craft. Director Aditya Dhar crafts elaborate action sequences and character arcs that capture audience attention, effectively distracting from the films’ persistent advancement of nationalist ideology and unquestioning faith in state institutions. The protagonist’s journey, ostensibly a personal quest for redemption, operates concurrently as a celebration of governmental power and military might. By embedding propagandistic content inside compelling stories, the films accomplish what cruder political messaging cannot: they reshape ideology into spectacle, making audiences complicit in their own ideological conditioning whilst considering themselves simply entertained.
This strategy shows particularly effective because it operates beneath deliberate notice. Viewers absorbed in exhilarating action sequences and emotional character moments take in the films’ underlying messages—that forceful state intervention is required, that opponents cannot change, that self-sacrifice for national priorities is worthy—without acknowledging the manipulation taking place. The sophisticated cinematography, engaging portrayals, and real technical skill lend credibility to these stories, allowing them to look less like propaganda and more like genuine narrative. This appearance of authenticity allows the films’ polarising worldview to reach popular awareness far more successfully than overtly inflammatory material ever would.
What This Signifies for Global Audiences
The global popularity of the “Dhurandhar” duology presents a troubling pattern for how state-aligned cinema can cross geographic borders and cultural differences. As streaming services like Netflix release these films globally, audiences in Western countries and elsewhere encounter advanced propagandistic content wrapped in the familiar language of espionage thrillers and action cinema. Without the understanding of cultural and political contexts needed to interpret the films’ nationalist messaging, international viewers may inadvertently consume and legitimise Indian state-sponsored ideology, substantially broadening the reach of propagandistic content far beyond their original domestic viewership. This worldwide distribution of politically sensitive material poses critical concerns about platform responsibility and the ethical implications of distributing state-sponsored cinema to unsuspecting international audiences.
Furthermore, the “Dhurandhar” films establish a disquieting template that other countries might attempt to emulate. If state-aligned cinema can attain both critical recognition and financial returns whilst promoting nationalist agendas, other states—particularly those prone to authoritarianism—may recognise cinema as a distinctly potent tool for the spread of ideology. The films show that propaganda doesn’t have to be crude or obvious to be effective; rather, when combined with authentic creative talent and considerable resources, it becomes nearly irresistible. For international viewers and cinema critics, the duology’s success suggests a concerning future where popular entertainment and state communication become ever more difficult to tell apart.
