Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge are Indian Hindi-language spy action thriller films written and directed 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. The films follow an undercover Indian intelligence agent who infiltrates Lyari's criminal syndicates and political power structures in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan; in an effort to dismantle a terror network targeting India.
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 Indian states and union territories of Punjab, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh; as well as in Bangkok, Thailand.
Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge were theatrically released on 5 December 2025 and 19 March 2026 respectively. Both films received acclaim for its cast performances, Dhar's direction and narrative style, cinematography, action sequences, musical score, and world-building, with criticism for its blending of fictional elements with real historical events, as well as its graphic violence. Both films were jointly produced on a budget of 255 crore, and became major box office successes. The Duology grossed over 3,200 crore and is currently the second-highest-grossing Indian franchise of all time.
Overview Film Release date Director Writer Producer(s)Dhurandhar 5 December 2025Aditya DharAditya Dhar, Lokesh Dhar, Jyoti DeshpandeDhurandhar: The Revenge 19 March 2026
Dhurandhar (2025)
After the hijacking of IC-814 in 1999 and Indian Parliament attack 2001, India's Intelligence Bureau Chief - Ajay Sanyal devises an indomitable mission to intrude and rupture the terrorist network in Pakistan, by infiltrating the underworld mafia of Karachi. Meanwhile, a 20 year old boy from Pathankot, Punjab held captive for a revenge crime, is identified by Sanyal for the mission. What follows is a network of criminals, informants and operatives whose lives intersect, navigating covert operations, espionage and betrayals.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026)
The film introduces Jaskirat Singh Rangi, tracing the chain of events that compel him to become Hamza Ali Mazari, and follows his rise as he operates deep inside Lyari's criminal syndicates and political power structures in Karachi while avenging the 26/11 attacks and confronting bigger threats.
Development
The project was officially announced in July 2024 by Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar on their social media accounts. The official title was revealed as Dhurandhar in December 2024. The film was reportedly inspired by real-life incidents, geopolitical conflicts, and the covert operations of Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW). The plot is loosely based on events revolving around 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Operation Lyari, 2014 Indian general election, 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation and various other events across South Asia.
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 titled "Hunting The Hijackers: The IC814 Hot Pursuit Story" based 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.
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. 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.
Casting
Mukesh Chhabra was the casting director for the film. In July 2024, Singh was cast as the lead, alongside Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, and Arjun Rampal. In October 2024, Sara Arjun was cast opposite Singh. Singh plays the role of a R&AW agent, while Madhavan was reported to be playing National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. 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. 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. In November 2025, Saumya Tandon confirmed she would be in the film. Television actors Rakesh Bedi, Manav Gohil, Gaurav Gera, and Naveen Kaushik were also cast. 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.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.Real Life Character of Bollywood Movie DHURANDHAR: Nabeel Gabol Exclusive Interview Woke by Capital , Woke Capital, 22 December 2025.
Rumours were circulated that Vicky Kaushal's character Major Vihaan Shergill from Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) would return in the film. However, later these rumours turned out to be false. Similarly, another rumor was also circulated that Emraan Hashmi would play the role of "Bade Sahab"; this was also debunked. In February 2026, it was confirmed that Yami Gautam will feature in a cameo appearance in the second part. Initially, Anil Kapoor was approached to play a cameo in the second part but declined the role.
Filming
Both parts were shot back-to-back as a single integrated film. Principal photography began in July 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. The second schedule commenced in November 2024 in Amritsar. In February 2025, filming took place at Filmistan in Mumbai. A schedule took place in Madh Island which was wrapped by late April 2025. In May 2025, some action sequences were filmed at the Dombivli-Mankoli bridge. In July 2025, a dance number was shot at the Golden Tobacco Factory in Vile Parle. Several scenes set in Pakistan's Lyari, were re-created in Bangkok by production designer Saini S Johray. Additional filming also took place at Khera village in Ludhiana, where the production recreated Pakistan-set sequences. In August 2025, filming moved to Ladakh, however it was halted after more than one hundred crew members were hospitalised due to food poisoning. In September 2025, some scenes were filmed at The Lawrence School in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. Some scenes were also filmed in Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake and Sector-17 underpass alongside Amritsar's Lal Kothi. Singh wrapped his portions in October 2025. Filming was also simultaneously wrapped in the same month.
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. Later these reports turned false as no additional shoot took place.
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. However, this rumour also turned false. Contrary to these reports, Dutt and Rampal were spotted shooting sequences in Ballard Estate, Mumbai. Production designer Rupin Suchak revealed that due to the tight schedule, team had to rebuild a key street sequence in Mumbai’s Film City after problems occurred at another location. He added ,“We actually opted for a full dress-up of a location in Mumbai. So we set that up in Film City entirely. That whole ambulance scene with Sanjay Dutt in the streets was also shot in Film City, The team also shot near Bora Bazar in Mumbai and transformed the busy market area for Pakistan scenes. An FIR was later filed against the location manager for flying drones in areas of South Mumbai without permission. 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. 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. Singh completed the dubbing for his role in the second part in the same month.
The Arabic songs "FA9LA" (sung by Bahraini rapper Flipperachi and composed by DJ Outlaw) and "Didi (Sher-e-Baloch)" (a remix of the 1991 song "Didi" by Khaled with vocals by Moroccan singer Nabil El Houri and Kuwaiti khaliji rap duo Sons of Yusuf) which feature when Khanna and Singh's characters each visit Balochistan in the first and second films respectively, had dance sequences choreographed by Vijay Ganguly and were shot in Ladakh. They showcased , a folk gun dance of Hijaz in Saudi Arabia, and chaap, a Baloch folk war and circle dance. Khanna's improvised dance steps later became a viral trend on social media.
Crew OccupationFilmDhurandhar (2025)Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026)Director Aditya DharProducer(s) Aditya DharLokesh DharJyoti Deshpande Writer Aditya Dhar Additional screenplay(s) Ojas GautamShivkumar V. PanickerCinematography Vikash NowlakhaEditor Shivkumar V. PanickerComposer Shashwat SachdevLyricist Irshad KamilProduction DesignerSaini S. JohrayAction Director(s) Aejaz GulabSea Young OhYannick BenRamazan BulutCostume DesignerSmriti ChauhanChoreographerVijay GangulySound DesignerBishwadeep ChatterjeeRe-Recording MixerJustin JoseExecutive ProducerRahul H. GandhiCasting DirectorMukesh Chhabra
Cast and characters