Aditya Dhar's action-packed thriller Dhurandhar 2 keeps taking over the world box office with over ₹750 crore worldwide. The movie’s global reputation is equally important, if not greater. Back in London a Pakistani family that fled with their boyfriend in a British cinema came under fire recently.
A family member said to one fellow member, apparently in an instant from the movie's widely distributed version, "This is a third-rate movie. I have never seen such a poor movie." He later said to his companion: “There’s absolutely no word worse than ‘poor;’ ‘poor’ really describes that movie!” Together, they called the movie “incoherent” and said their complaints are strong.
The family also protested the film’s geopolitical content with slogans that sounded like “Major Iqbal Zindabad” and “Pakistan Zindabad,” indicating they were against it. Indian netizens teased and mocked the family, while applauding the director for making its picture based on reality of terrorism.
Some fans say the feedback indicates that Pakistan is the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks by Pakistan-based Pakistanis and audiences might disapprove and how should it be. One user noted, "If Pakistanis don't like this movie, it means Aditya Dhar is on the right track. He has revealed the truth about terrorism." For many people in Pakistan, “The portrayal of ISI involvement” is too much for them to bear.
Dhurandhar 2 is, despite all the controversy, being such a high-stakes film, still resonated deeply amongst the audience, and the critics are very much impressed by the fight scenes and resolution in this drama and the good-faith dialogue and its good-looking and happy narrative. That’s what makes Aditya Dhar’s inspirational patriotic cinema not just a good movie but also of immense relevance because its effect can generate much dialogue and political and social opinion -- an idea that will make so much money in India and beyond: a kind of social and social discussion and it could have a global audience in other countries.
