Dhurandhar Review: A fierce spy thriller weighed down by flab – And a No-Show in UAE Cinemas

Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar arrives as a massive, politically charged spy thriller – packed with star power, thunderous action and a powerful emotional core. With Ranveer Singh fronting the mission and a stellar ensemble including Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan and Arjun Rampal, this is big-screen Bollywood in its most muscular, hyper-patriotic avatar. Yet, while the film delivers gripping stretches and outstanding performances, it is also weighed down by indulgent writing, an overlong runtime and some creative choices that blunt its impact.​​

For UAE audiences, there is an added sting: Dhurandhar has effectively skipped UAE cinemas, mirroring the controversy around Fighter, leaving residents with only one realistic option – to catch it on Netflix when it is expected to stream from January 30, 2026.​

Story, Scale and Setting

Set in the aftermath of the IC-814 hijack and the 2001 Parliament attack, Dhurandhar imagines a covert Indian operation that burrows deep into Pakistan’s chaotic Lyari belt, a hotbed of gangs, terror financing and political intrigue. Ranveer Singh plays a RAW operative who embeds himself in this underworld maze, navigating rival mafias, ISI handlers and a morally murky mission that constantly tests his loyalties and limits.​

Dhar stages the narrative across multiple countries and time periods, with heavy use of real historical references, news-style footage and gritty production design. The result is an atmosphere of constant tension and dread, often punctuated by brutal violence – no surprise the film carries an Adults Only certificate in India and runs a marathon 214 minutes.​​

When Dhurandhar is locked into its core espionage track, it is both absorbing and unnerving. The planning, infiltrations, double-crosses and moral compromises feel convincingly messy, mirroring real world geopolitics more than fairy-tale heroism.

Performances: Akshaye Khanna Shines, Sanjay Dutt Underused

The ensemble cast is one of the film’s biggest weapons, and this is where Akshaye Khanna walks away with the film. As Lyari gangster Rehman, he brings an electric mix of charm, menace and unpredictability, turning every scene into a quiet power play. His line readings are deliciously restrained, his body language razor-sharp, and his character arc layered enough to keep audiences guessing. Akshaye Khanna’s portrayal is an absolute delight – the kind of performance that lingers long after the credits roll.​

Ranveer Singh, meanwhile, delivers one of his most controlled turns in years, trading flamboyance for simmering intensity. R. Madhavan and Arjun Rampal add heft as key players in the larger strategic game, embodying different shades of institutional ruthlessness and patriotism.​​

The weak link, somewhat surprisingly, is Sanjay Dutt’s character. On paper, his role as a tough former SP tasked with cleaning up Lyari should have been a goldmine of conflict and lived-in gravitas. On screen, however, it rarely moves beyond a one-dimensional “hard man” template – a lot of growling, a lot of swagger, but limited emotional shading or surprise. A performer of Dutt’s calibre deserved a more nuanced arc; here he feels underwritten, almost reduced to a narrative device that could have been far more complex.​

Craft, Music and the Edit That Could Have Been

Technically, Dhurandhar is mounted on an impressive scale. From densely packed Lyari lanes to explosive set pieces, the film consistently looks and feels premium. The action is visceral and often uncomfortably raw, matching Dhar’s intent to show the “dirty work” behind clean nationalistic headlines.​​

The music and background score, composed by Shashwat Sachdev, are a major highlight. The soundtrack pulses with tension, seamlessly fusing percussive urgency with haunting thematic motifs. The background score, in particular, elevates several sequences, underlining both the dread of impending violence and the tragic cost of the mission. The songs are sparingly but smartly placed, supporting mood rather than hijacking it.​​

Where Dhurandhar stumbles is in its editing and narrative discipline. At over three and a half hours, the film simply stretches too long. The pacing sags especially in portions devoted to an undercooked love track, which feels like it belongs to a different movie altogether.​

A sharper edit and the complete removal of the romantic subplot would have worked far better. Trimming emotional detours and tightening mid-act repetitions could have transformed Dhurandhar from an impressive yet exhausting thriller into a lean, relentless gut-punch. Instead, the film occasionally loses the vice-like grip it establishes early on, only to claw it back again later.

Big Cliffhanger missing – Why?

Dhurandhar has been conceived as a two-part saga, with the second instalment already dated for a March 2026 theatrical release. Given that structure, one would naturally expect Part One to end on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger – the kind of finale that has audiences counting days to the next chapter.​

Surprisingly, the film stops short of delivering that truly explosive narrative hook. While the story does leave a few questions hanging and clearly sets up unresolved tensions for Part Two, the final stretch settles into a more muted, conventional resolution than the buildup promises.​

It is hard not to lament the absence of a major, game-changing twist at the end. For a film that thrives on secrecy, deception and moral ambiguity, a bolder, more shocking final beat could have taken the anticipation for March to another level.

For UAE Audiences: Netflix Or Nothing

For cinephiles in the UAE, Dhurandhar comes with a frustrating caveat. As of its worldwide theatrical release, the film has not appeared on UAE cinema listings, with industry trackers and social media observers strongly indicating that it has been effectively banned from release in the UAE due to its Indo–Pak conflict theme and graphic violence.​

This echoes the troubled journey of Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter, which faced bans across Gulf territories and intense scrutiny before eventually managing a limited UAE classification. With Dhurandhar carrying an A certificate in India for strong violence and adult content, its absence from UAE screens fits the emerging pattern of heightened regional sensitivity toward such titles.​

The upshot for local audiences is stark: there is virtually no theatrical option to watch Dhurandhar in the UAE. Instead, viewers here will have to wait for its OTT debut on Netflix, currently expected on January 30, 2026, after its worldwide theatrical run.​

For a film designed to be experienced on the largest possible screen, with roaring sound design and a charged crowd, that is a real loss.

Verdict

Dhurandhar is an ambitious, bruising spy thriller that blends real events, muscular action and morally fraught geopolitics into a gripping, if uneven, package. Akshaye Khanna’s outstanding turn is an absolute delight, the music is superb, and several sequences rank among the most intense mounted in recent mainstream Hindi cinema.​​

At the same time, an overlong runtime, a dispensable love track, and the lack of a knockout cliffhanger hold it back from true genre classic status. With a tighter cut and bolder structural choices, this could have been phenomenal rather than just powerful.

For UAE viewers, the recommendation comes with a caveat: this is absolutely worth watching – but, sadly, you will likely be watching it at home on Netflix, not in a UAE cinema.