Aditya Dhar’s “Dhurandhar” duology has established itself as a watershed moment for Hindi cinema, signalling a pronounced transformation in Bollywood’s thematic preoccupations and ideological positions. The first instalment, unveiled in December 2025, became the highest-grossing Hindi-language film in India before being separated into two parts during post-production. Now, with the second instalment “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” actively dominating cinemas across the country, the intelligence-based narrative is poised to cement what various commentators consider to be a troubling shift in Indian commercial cinema: the wholesale embrace of patriotic-inflected tales that openly seek official support and leverage patriotic feeling. The films’ unabashed fusion of commercial entertainment and state narratives has reignited debates about Bollywood’s connections with political influence, particularly under Narendra Modi’s administration.
From Espionage Thriller to Political Declaration
The narrative structure of the “Dhurandhar” duology reveals a strategic movement from entertainment to political messaging. The opening instalment deliberately positioned before Modi’s 2014 election victory, establishes its ideological framework through characters who repeatedly voice 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 later ascent to leadership as the answer to the nation’s prayers, converting what seems like a conventional spy thriller into an comprehensive validation of the administration’s approach to national security and military aggression.
The sequel intensifies this ideological drive by featuring Modi himself as an almost omnipresent supporting character through strategically placed news footage and government broadcasts. Rather than allowing the fictional narrative to exist separately, 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 previous instances of Bollywood’s political alignment, advancing them from subtle ideological positioning to overt political backing that transforms cinema into a vehicle for political legitimacy.
- First film appeals for a strong leader before Modi’s election victory
- Sequel includes Modi in a supporting character via news clips
- Narrative merges fictional heroism alongside government policy approval
- Films erase the boundaries between entertainment and also state propaganda deliberately
The Development of Bollywood’s Ideological Shift
The commercial success of the “Dhurandhar” duology signals a profound transformation in Bollywood’s connection to nationalist ideology and state power. Whilst the Indian film industry has historically maintained close ties with political establishments, the brazen nature of these films constitutes a qualitative shift in how directly cinema now conveys state communications. The franchise’s commercial supremacy—with the first instalment emerging as the top-earning Hindi film in India upon its December release—shows that audiences are increasingly receptive to entertainment that seamlessly integrates political propaganda. This acceptance indicates a basic shift in what Indian viewers consider acceptable film content, moving beyond the subtle ideological positioning of earlier films towards explicit state advocacy.
The ramifications of this shift go beyond mere commercial performance. By achieving remarkable box office gains whilst explicitly merging cinematic heroics with state policy, the “Dhurandhar” films have successfully established a fresh blueprint for Indian film production. Next-generation filmmakers now have access to a tested formula for blending nationalist sentiment with financial gains, conceivably fostering state-aligned filmmaking as a enduring and profitable genre. This development indicates broader societal transformations within India, where the boundaries between cinema, patriotism, and official discourse have become less distinct, generating important concerns about cinema’s role in forming political consciousness and national identity.
A Example of Patriotic Cinema
The “Dhurandhar” duology does not emerge in a vacuum but rather constitutes the culmination of a expanding movement within contemporary Indian cinema. Recent years have witnessed a surge of films utilising nationalist rhetoric and anti-Muslim narratives, including “The Kashmir Files,” “The Kerala Story,” and “The Taj Story.” These productions share a common ideological framework that recasts Indian history through a Hindu-centric lens whilst portraying Muslims as fundamental dangers. However, what sets apart the “Dhurandhar” films from these earlier works is their superior cinematic execution and production quality, which give their propaganda a veneer of artistic legitimacy that more crude anti-Muslim productions do not possess.
This difference demonstrates especially problematic because the “Dhurandhar” duology’s production quality and entertainment value conceal its essentially propagandist nature. Where films like “The Kashmir Files” serve as crude ideological instruments, the “Dhurandhar” series utilises filmmaking expertise to make its ideological content palatable to mainstream audiences. The franchise thus embodies a concerning development: messaging refined through professional filmmaking into material bordering on state-sanctioned cinema. This sophisticated approach to nationalist messaging may prove more influential in affecting popular sentiment than more obviously inflammatory films, as audiences may embrace propagandistic material when it comes packaged in compelling entertainment.
Filmmaking Artistry Versus Political Communication
The “Dhurandhar” duology’s most insidious quality lies in its combination of technical excellence with political radicalism. Director Aditya Dhar demonstrates impressive command of the action thriller genre, crafting sequences of raw power and narrative momentum that engage audiences. This cinematic proficiency becomes problematic precisely because it functions as a vehicle for ideological messaging, reshaping what might otherwise be overt political rhetoric into something significantly alluring and convincing. The films’ glossy production values, skilled camera work, and powerful acting by actors like Ranveer Singh add legitimacy to their fundamentally divisive narratives, making their ideological messaging more acceptable to mainstream viewers who might otherwise dismiss blatantly incendiary messaging.
This intersection of creative excellence and ideological messaging establishes a distinctive difficulty for cinematic analysis and cultural commentary. Audiences often find it difficult to distinguish between aesthetic appreciation from political critique, particularly when entertainment appeal demonstrates genuine appeal. The “Dhurandhar” films exploit this conflict deliberately, relying on the notion that viewers absorbed in thrilling action sequences will absorb their underlying messages without critical resistance. The risk grows because the films’ technical achievements grant them legitimacy within critical conversation, enabling their nationalist ideology to circulate more widely and influence public opinion more effectively 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 |
- Professional quality transforms propagandistic content into mainstream entertainment
- Advanced cinematography masks ideological undertones from rigorous analysis
- Film technique elevates patriotic messaging above raw inflammatory speech
The Concerning Implications for Indian Cinema
The box office and critical success of the “Dhurandhar” duology indicates a concerning trajectory for Indian cinema, one in which patriotic fervor increasingly determines box office performance and cultural significance. Where once Bollywood functioned as a forum for multiple perspectives and competing viewpoints, the ascendancy of these patriotic suspense films suggests a reduction of acceptable discourse. The films’ unprecedented success indicates that audiences are growing more accepting of entertainment that directly endorses state power and characterises opposition as treachery. This shift reflects broader societal polarisation, yet cinema’s unique capacity to shape shared cultural consciousness means its ideological stance carry considerable importance in shaping popular opinion and political attitudes.
The implications extend beyond simple entertainment preferences. When a nation’s cinema sector consistently produces narratives that glorify government authority and portray negatively external enemies, it risks hardening public opinion and limiting meaningful dialogue with complex geopolitical realities. The “Dhurandhar” films exemplify this danger by presenting their perspective not as one perspective among many, but as factual reality packaged with production quality and celebrity appeal. For critics and media analysts, this represents a watershed moment: Indian cinema’s shift from occasionally accommodating state interests to deliberately operating as a propaganda machine, albeit one far more sophisticated than its historical predecessors.
Propaganda Dressed up as Entertainment
The insidious nature of the “Dhurandhar” duology rests upon its calculated obscuring of political messaging beneath layers of cinematic craft. Director Aditya Dhar develops intricate action set-pieces and character arcs that demand viewer engagement, successfully diverting from the films’ relentless promotion of nationalist ideology and blind faith in state institutions. The protagonist’s journey, nominally a personal quest for redemption, works at once as a glorification of governmental power and military might. By weaving propagandistic content throughout engaging narratives, the films achieve what cruder political messaging cannot: they convert ideology into spectacle, making audiences complicit in their own ideological conditioning whilst regarding themselves as merely entertained.
This strategy proves particularly effective because it works beneath deliberate notice. Viewers engrossed by exhilarating action sequences and emotional character moments absorb the films’ fundamental narratives—that forceful state intervention is necessary, that opponents cannot change, that individual sacrifice for state interests is worthy—without detecting the manipulation occurring. The refined visual composition, powerful acting, and authentic craftsmanship add legitimacy to these narratives, causing them to seem less like persuasive messaging and more like authentic storytelling. This veneer of legitimacy permits the films’ polarising worldview to infiltrate general understanding far with greater success than explicitly provocative content ever could.
What This Signifies for International Viewers
The international popularity of the “Dhurandhar” duology raises a concerning precedent for how state-aligned cinema can cross geographical boundaries and cultural contexts. As streaming services like Netflix release these films globally, audiences in Western countries and beyond encounter sophisticated propaganda 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 unknowingly consume and legitimise Indian state-sponsored ideology, effectively extending the reach of propagandistic narratives far beyond their original domestic viewership. This globalisation of politically sensitive material poses urgent questions about platform accountability and the moral dimensions of distributing state-sponsored cinema to unaware overseas viewers.
Furthermore, the “Dhurandhar” films create a concerning template that other countries might attempt to emulate. If government-backed film can secure both critical recognition and commercial success whilst advancing nationalist agendas, other governments—particularly those with authoritarian tendencies—may acknowledge cinema as a distinctly potent tool for the spread of ideology. The films illustrate that propaganda doesn’t need to be crude or obvious to be effective; rather, when combined with genuine artistic talent and substantial budgets, it becomes virtually unavoidable. For worldwide audiences and cinema critics, the duology’s success signals a concerning future where entertainment and government messaging become progressively harder to distinguish.
