DhurandharandDhurandhar: The Revenge
Film logo
Directed by	Aditya Dhar
Written by	Aditya Dhar
Additional screenplay	Ojas Gautam Shivkumar V. Panicker
Produced by	Aditya Dhar Jyoti Deshpande Lokesh Dhar
Cinematography	Vikash Nowlakha
Edited by	Shivkumar V. Panicker
Music by	Shashwat Sachdev
Production companies	Jio Studios B62 Studios
Release dates	5 December 2025 (2025-12-05)(Dhurandhar) 19 March 2026 (2026-03-19)(Dhurandhar: The Revenge)
Running time	443 minutes (combined) [1] [2]
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹250–255 crore (combined) [3]
Box office	₹2,957.08 crore (combined) [4] [5] [6]

Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge are an Indian Hindi-language spy action thriller film duology created by Aditya Dhar and produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios. The films feature an ensemble cast including Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, and R. Madhavan, alongside several supporting actors.

Contents

• Development
• Casting
• Filming
• Films
• See also
• References

Principal photography for both parts took place back-to-back 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.

Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge were theatrically released on 5 December 2025 and 19 March 2026 respectively. Both films have grossed over ₹2,957.08 crore, emerging as the second highest grossing Indian franchise of all time.

Development

The film was officially announced in July 2024 by Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar on their social media accounts. ^[7] The title was revealed to be Dhurandhar in December 2024. ^[8] The film was reportedly inspired by real-life incidents, geopolitical conflicts, and the covert operations of Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), ^[9] with the plot loosely based on events revolving around Operation Lyari, a Pakistan government-led crackdown against local gangs and crime syndicates in the Lyari area of Karachi, Pakistan. ^{[10] [9]}

Aditya Raj Kaul, the senior executive editor at NDTV for geopolitics, national security and strategic affairs, served as the film's research consultant. He became a part of the film after having made a documentary on the 2022 assassination of Zahoor Mistry, one of the hijackers of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in 1999, and became officially involved with the project after discussions about the assassination with Dhar, a long-term friend of his. ^[11]

Initially, Dhurandhar was planned to release as a single film, with what would eventually be the two parts being shot together concurrently as a single project. However, the makers later decided to split the film into two during post-production due to the extensive scale, amount of footage, and narrative complexity. ^{[12] [13] [14] [15]} Reports also indicated that the project was initially structured as a streaming series, however, as the script expanded and the scale of the action increased, the developers decided the story was better suited for theatres and remodelled it into a film. ^{[16] [17]}

Casting

(Left to right, top-bottom) Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, and R. Madhavan star in the duology.

Mukesh Chhabra was the casting director for the film. ^[18] In July 2024, Singh was cast as the lead, alongside Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, and Arjun Rampal. ^{[19] [20]} In October 2024, Sara Arjun was cast opposite Singh. ^[21] Singh plays the role of a R&AW agent, while Madhavan was reported to be playing National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. ^{[22] [23]} Dutt's character was based on Pakistani police officer Chaudhry Aslam Khan, Khanna's character was based on gangster Rehman Dakait, while Rampal's character was loosely based on Pakistani soldier-turned-terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri and Major Iqbal, the shadowy handler of David Headley. ^{[24] [25]} Singh reportedly received a remuneration of ₹30–50 crore, while Madhavan was paid ₹9 crore. Both Khanna and Dutt received ₹2.5 crore, while Rampal and Arjun were paid ₹1 crore each. ^{[26] [27]} In November 2025, Saumya Tandon confirmed she would be in the film. ^[28] Television actors Rakesh Bedi, Manav Gohil, Gaurav Gera, and Naveen Kaushik were also cast. ^{[29] [30]} Several actors auditioned for the roles of Donga and Mohammed Aalam, played by Kaushik and Gera. Sunil Grover was considered for the role of Aalam before Gera was cast. ^[31]

Singh's character was rumoured to be based on Major Mohit Sharma, an Indian army officer who infiltrated terrorist groups in Kashmir, however this claim was denied by Dhar. ^{[32] [33]} Ahead of the film's release, the family of late Indian soldier Major Mohit Sharma filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the release, accusing the makers of allegedly drawing inspiration from Sharma's life and covert operations without seeking the family's consent. ^{[34] [35]} The Delhi High Court directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to consider these objections, following which the Board undertook a fresh examination of the film and found no link to Major Mohit Sharma. ^[36]

Similarly, Chaudhary Aslam's widow Naureen Aslam also objected to his character's portrayal in the film, threatening to take legal action if her husband was falsely portrayed. ^[37] The Makrani Baloch community of Junagadh in Gujarat also protested and threatened legal action against the filmmakers for the anti-Baloch lines spoken by Chaudhry Aslam's character in the film. ^{[38] [39]} Pakistan People's Party (PPP) politicians Sharjeel Memon (Sindh Information Minister), Murtaza Wahab (Mayor of Karachi) and Sumeta Afzal Syed (PPP spokesperson) criticised the portrayal of their party in the film with Syed describing the use of images featuring former Pakistani prime minister and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto as "unlawful". Another PPP politician Nabil Gabol criticised his portrayal by Rakesh Bedi in the film. ^{[40] [41] [42] [43] [44]}

Rumours were circulated that Vicky Kaushal's character Major Vihaan Shergill from Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) would return in the film. ^[45] However, later these rumours turned false. ^[46] In February 2026, it was reported that Yami Gautam was featured in a cameo appearance in the second part. ^{[47] [48]}

Filming

Both parts were shot back-to-back as a single integrated film. ^[49] Principal photography began in July 2024 in Bangkok. ^{[50] [51]} The second schedule commenced in November 2024 at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. ^[52] In February 2025, filming took place at Filmistan in Mumbai. ^[53] A schedule took place in Madh Island which was wrapped by late April 2025. ^[54] In May 2025, some action sequences were filmed at the Dombivli-Mankoli bridge. ^[55] In July 2025, a dance number was shot at the Golden Tobacco Factory in Vile Parle. ^[56] Several scenes set in Pakistan, especially Lyari, were re-created in Thailand. ^{[57] [58]} Additional filming also took place at Khera village in Ludhiana, where the production recreated Pakistan-set sequences. ^{[59] [60]} In August 2025, filming moved to Ladakh, however it was halted after more than one hundred crew members were hospitalised due to food poisoning. ^[61] In September 2025, some scenes were filmed at The Lawrence School in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. ^[62] Some scenes were also filmed in Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake and Sector-17 underpass alongside Amritsar's Lal Kothi. ^{[63] [64]} Singh wrapped his portions in October 2025. ^[65] Filming was also simultaneously wrapped in the same month. ^[66]

After the success of first part, it was widely reported that Khanna would return on the sets for a short one-week shoot of the additional scenes. ^[67] Later these reports turned false as no additional shoot took place. ^[68] In January 2026, it was reported that a three day patch-work shoot was held in Golden Tobacco Factory where the character arc of Arjun Rampal was shot. ^{[69] [70]} However, this rumour also turned false. ^[71] Contrary to these reports, Dutt and Rampal were spotted shooting sequences in Ballard Estate, Mumbai. ^[72] An FIR was also filed against the location manager for flying drones in areas of South Mumbai without permission. ^[73] In mid-February, BMC sought to issue a permanent blacklisting proposal to Dhar's production house B62 Studios for repeated violations of protocols during the shooting in South Mumbai area. ^{[74] [75]} Following this incident, All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) also condemned the repeated safety violations reported during the film's shooting and demanded accountability from the makers. ^[76] Singh completed the dubbing for his role in the second part in the same month. ^[77]

In March 2026, the makers began the final post-production work for Dhurandhar: The Revenge, including visual effects, background score and sound design ahead of its scheduled theatrical release on 19 March 2026. The film completed its final dubbing and editing stages in Mumbai, with the production team focusing on large-scale action sequences and international distribution preparations. ^{[78] [79]}

Films

Dhurandhar and its sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge have grossed over ₹1,000 crore which makes Aditya Dhar the second highest grossing director in India after S. S. Rajamouli.

See also

• Back-to-back film production

References