DHURANDAR is an epic super-long spy-mafia-thriller set in the political powder-keg that is contemporary Indian-Pakistani politics. And let's be clear up front: writer-director Aditya Dhar (URI: THE SURGICAL STRIKE) is definitely in the Indian nationalist camp, telling his story from the perspective of a country trying to defend itself from horrific real-life terrorist attacks like Mumbai 2008. There is no attempt here to understand the Pakistani side of the conflict although there is nuance to the lead Pakistani character, Rehman Dakait. How else to explain a proud Balochi helping the state that oppresses his people? As a result, for those of us critical of Narendra Modi's Hindu Nationalist politics, it's easy to write this film of as propaganda. Your mileage my vary. I found its handling of recent terrorist attacks fair. My only problem with it - and it's a big one - was a statement in its final minutes that not only is the Pakistani state behind attacks such as Mumbai (fact), but that it's behind "ninety percent of all terrorism" (not fact). That's a dangerous piece of hyperbole but I trust the audience to parse the fact from the propaganda, all the while enjoying what is a really superb film.
The movie opens with Indian officials negotiating the release of airplane hostages, and then zips through the terrorist attack on India's parliament building. This prompts the Indian security services to send in a sleeper agent to infiltrate the gangs that work in cahoots with Islamic terrorist and the Pakistani state. This infiltrator is "Hamza", played in a series of glorious hair-pieces by the ever-charismatic and muscle-bound Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh.
Hamza poses as a Balochi waiter in Karachi's Lyari district and slowly infiltrates the gang of the aforementioned Rehman. Rehman is himself pursued by Pakistani cop SP Aslam. Later Hamza will romance a rival politician's daughter, presumably so we can have some filmi romance scenes and songs. More pointedly, Hamza will witness Major Iqbal planning the Mumbai attack, but fail to prevent it. All of this is based on real-life criminals and real-life politicians and real-life terrorists. In the most searing moment of the film, the director Aditya Dhar chooses to show real life audio from the night of the Mumbai attacks, with the handler egging the terrorists on to greater acts of violence. It's a brave and powerful moment.
Come for Ranveer, stay for the golden oldies! The joy of this film is not in Ranveer's physically committed performance, but in seeing so many older actors given superb roles and sinking their teeth into them. There's been a lot of internet chatter about just how good Akshaye Khanna is as Rehman, and boy he acts everyone else off the screen. From affable wedding guest with a memed weddding entrance, to a truly scary purveyor of vengeful violence, to a skilled populist politician. Khanna has the prime role in this film and it's one for the ages. It's an Oscar-winning performance that dominates the film and transforms it into something really special. But kudos also to Sanjay Dutt as SP Aslam and an almost unrecognisable Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal. And Madhavan is always great - not least playing Ajay Sanyal here.
This film is so good that after nearly four hours of viewing I could easily have watched it again, and cannot wait for its sequel. This is Bollywood at its most provocative and handsomely produced.
DHURANDAR has a running time of 214 minutes and is rated 18 for strong violence. It was released last December and is now on Netflix.
