Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar to redefine gore and violence for Bollywood – Is that the future ahead?

Arjun Rampal pinning an Indian soldier with hundreds of needles and skinning him alive.

Akshaye Khanna bashing a man’s head and reducing it to pulp.

This, and a lot more, is a part of just the trailer of Dhurandhar, and by the look of things this is just a teaser of what more that can be expected out of the film, a spy thriller with a difference.

While the likes of Tigers and Pathans have romanticised the genre with heroism being truly filmy and very Bollywoodish, an exception like Baby stayed true to the genre and told things practically as they were without falling into the Bollywood trap. However, director Aditya Dhar definitely found himself in a different mood when he decided to put together Dhurandhar. He neither chose to romanticise it as a fantasy heroic affair with just guns and tanks, nor did he choose to take a realistic route which is dialogue heavy. Instead, he is bringing on an altogether different dynamism to this Indian-Spy-In-Pakistan tale which picks the most brutal real life happenings from the annals of history, tells things the way they actually happened even if you find it difficult to watch it all with eyes fully open, and then adds on complete masala tadka of style, swag and aura not just in the body language and presentation of his heroes but also the villains.

So what we get to see is Arjun Rampal and Akshaye Khanna, the chocolate boys from 25 years ago, as completely black villains, the OG action man Sanjay Dutt in his characteristic style, albeit in grey shades, and Madhavan – who is having the time of his life as an actor – as the NIA Chief Mr. Ajit Doval no less. As for Ranveer Singh, he is promising a lot more dhamaka than just the patakhas, as he goes a few steps ahead of his deadly act in Padmaavat.

The question though is, how much deadly violence, gore and brutality can audiences digest on screen?

Well, we saw a glimpse of that in Animal and then lapped it up big time, more so because there was an inherent story running and the on-screen killings justified it. Then there was Marco which did well at least regionally in Malayalam with all its action. Baaghi 4 went A rated too but wasn’t as lucky, more so because the action was way too much and on your face right through the narrative.

Dhurandhar though is a different game, if insiders are to be believed. I am told that even though there would be blood on screen, it won’t come in the way of inherent drama and thrills which pepper the narrative that is tout and very intriguing. The way Pakistan and its gangs and the gang wars are shown would be truly a new experience for the audience and given the fact that Aditya Dhar has explored geopolitics in Uri as well as Article 370, there is promise of quite some research which has been done in Dhurandhar as well to make it authentic.

I too want to believe that brutality in its current format is an added ingredient, and not the main dish, in Dhurandhar. This is a film which is believed to be worth the wait, considering the fact that Ranveer Singh is appearing on the big screen a year and half after Rocky Aur Ranii Kii Prem Kahaani (2023). From bringing a lover boy to a kill machine, it’s a transition that would be next experienced in balance, and not an absolute extreme.