Dhurandhar - 'Wrath of God' indeed

Into the first few minutes of Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the rapper goes "Ladies and gentlemen, you are STILL not ready for this" 

In many ways, it captures the impact of the double punch dealt by Aditya Dhar perfectly. I don't think anyone, leave alone the liberals, were ready for this. Note that I use the term 'liberals' in a purely sarcastic and derogatory sense. The cabal masquerading as liberals in India are the least liberal and tolerant class in the country.

Countless Youtube videos have been made of the total meltdown felt by this class. In fact, when the first movie came out, I had no plans to watch it at all. The one clip/trailer I had seen seemed muddled to me and though I know Ranveer Singh is a fine actor, his theatrics overshadow his craft almost all the time which didn't help the movie's cause.

However, two days after release, that hag Anupama Chopra, who fooled us for years pretending to be a movie critic, and that supreme jihadi apologist Arfa, started bad mouthing the film for apparently no reason and people started booking tickets out of pure curiosity. Then the word of mouth caught on and how!

I am not going to add to the meltdown lists, but use my time more productively, in bringing to light some of the things I really liked in both movies, combined. 

1. An eye on Punjab and Khalistanis - While Pakistan's responsibility for terrorism is well documented and extensively detailed, the Khalistanis' and drug peddler's collusion with ISI was perfectly depicted. A masterstroke is having the protagonist from the Sikh community and highlighting his and other Sikh families' contribution to our armed forces. This was a very good and balanced prod to those who profess for a separate Khalistan and believe Pakis will help them (hint - they won't. Thus the scene with the STSJ against the Sikh family in Karachi). 

I have the highest respect for the Sikh community and personally am pained at how some of them are going against Bharat. They have never asked for anything from the government on account of being 'minority' and contribute handsomely to the economy and to the armed forces. This is not how this should have ever gone down.

2. The wet dream of Ghazwa e Hind - A very illustrative depiction of the Paki mindset of achieving their wet dream of Ghazwa e Hind manifests in the way Major Iqbal dies. His feet are chopped off, he is drowning in kerosene and knows will shortly be blown up. But his final words are almost prophetic - 'हम फिर से घुसेंगे, फिर से मारेंगे . 

As the Ajit Doval character 'Ajay Sanyal' says in the first movie - 'We have to get it right every single time, these bastards have to get it right only once'. Pakistan as a nation needs an anti-Bharat sentiment to survive. Without Bharat, they have no identity. Thus, they will keep trying even if their own people run out of food rations. We cannot rest easy any time in near future, as Op Sindoor has already shown. 

3. The empty boasts of the Pak army - Another masterstroke was the character of Brigadier Jahangir (Major Iqbal's abbu) - the foul mouthed, sarcastic drunkard who delights in putting down his own, grown son and boasts of having tens of bastard children in Bangladesh and how he molested Bangladeshi Hindu women in '71. Their interaction masterfully pulls down the 'hero' narrative of the Paki Army by showing exactly what they are - an organization which has done and won zilch but still keeps boasting empty claims and lead luxurious lives. Search on Youtube for how these generals live in Islamabad, you will be amazed.
A sly take on inbreeding/consanguineous marriages within Pak society doesnt land correctly as Down's syndrome is not genetic, but the hint is definitely towards inbreeding. 

A detail I noticed was the Brigadier's bathtub is always shown as full. I interpreted this as his 'पाप का घड़ा' being not just full, but overflowing and he ends up being drowned in the same tub. 

4. The Dawood Question - Similar to the Pak army, the way Dawood was shown as an incapacitated old man, running on IV and medications, is another masterstroke. For too long has Dawood been shown as 'cool' (looking at you, Ram Gopal Verma), and this was most needed. 

While this is propaganda of the highest order, the final product would be unwatchable unless backed by a good script and execution, and this is where Aditya Dhar scores.  Technically, the film is unlike anything produced in India so far.

1. Runtime - It takes courage to release a 3.5 hr movie and a 4hr movie back-to-back, in today's Reels age where attention spans and retention barely last beyond an OTP message. At no stage did I check the watch during either movie. This is a real achievement. The runtime was definitely needed to setup the plot in the first part and show the scale in part two, but at no stage does the pace dither. 

2. Soundtrack - And this is where the soundtrack comes in. Retro remixed music, Rap, Punjabi Pop- all are used to transition across chapters, as character introductions and most brilliantly, as background to choreographed fight scenes. This was the first time I ever enjoyed Punjabi music - especially Aari Aari. 

3. Violence - The whole sequence of Jaskirat going through the building and gunning down everyone in sight, is the best action sequence I have seen in a very long time. Overall, the violence is graphic, brutal and very, very stylized. The only other movie I can think of similar quality in Fight sequence + Background music is Inglourious Basterds, and that was from the master himself. This was no less than Tarantino level. I am sure QT himself will love this movie. 

Cheel Chowk, Karachi - from Google Maps

4. Production Design - I am most sick and tired of movies shot against green screens. Even leaving aside the Marvel movies, even films like Ramayan are now shot on green screens. The result is a bland, colourless palette with no depth. 

Just see for example how bad the new Harry Potter trailers look, compared to the original movies which were shot 20 yrs back! This is the biggest positive from the movie. Lyari looks like a lived-in space, with all its shanties, slums and streets and run down shops. It almost adds a new character to the movie. I would love for more movies build sets of this scale or at least use practical effects for action sequences. The gang execution in Part 1 with one guy dragged behind a bike and another literally getting cooked couldn't have been as effective on a green screen. 

5. Gita interpreted - The movie starts with perhaps the most oft repeated quote from the Gita - 

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 47 ||

As Sanyal says - "हम मर्द है जस्कीरत। पैदा होने से मरने तक हमरा काम है लडना। इसके लिये हमें कोई  या शाबाशी नही मिलती!". In today's world of instant gratification and dopamine rush, this simple truth is driven home spectacularly and informs the decisions of Jaskirat and Hamza throughout. The mind shudders at how countless such ordinary Bharatiyaas would have led lives fraught with dangers with no hope or expectation of ever going back to their loved ones. The movie pays a brilliant tribute to such 'unknown' men. 

We were once told 'अहिंसा ही गीता का सार हैं'. This was a pernicious lie aimed at emasculating the Bharitya psyche and it was the gullible nature of our populace that we believed the fake Mahatma. From that abhorrent lie to re-interpreting the Gita in its correct spirit, Bharat has grown up. Hope this vigour stays. 

6. A very satisfying conclusion - Make no mistake, this was a tough script to close. It could easily have closed in a gung-ho manner, Hamza having eliminated all the enemies and simply returning home. But it doesn't. It deliberately shuns away from such whitewashing and chooses to keep it real. 

The final sequence building on the 'हम मर्द है जस्कीरत' theme and extending to 'बलिदन परमो धर्मं' is at once poignant and awe inspiring. 

5. Propaganda (?) - Coming back to the liberals for a minute, the biggest allegation is that the movie is a propaganda. Of course it is, and a brilliant one at that! In fact, this should be owned and celebrated. Urduwood has been running propaganda on 'Aman ki aasha' and 'Hindu terrorists' and negative depictions of Brahmins, baniyas and generally of Hindus, for years. It is time for payback. 

Follow the brilliant folks at @GemsOfBollywood on X for some truths on our film industry that you just weren't ready for. 

I had completely given up on the Hindi/Urdu film industry (I havent seen a SRK movie in almost 20 yrs). Thanks to Aditya Dhar, Vivek Agnihotri and the like for giving us Uri, Dhurandhar, Kashmir Files, Vaccine War, Article 370 and The Bengal Files in recent years. 

As Modi ji said during the Ram Mandir inauguration, 'काल चक्र घूम रहा हैं '. I couldnt help noticing this is the same sentiment the Ajit Doval character echoes in the movie. Excited to see how AD follows this up!