Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026): Aditya Dhar Swings Hard, Lands Unevenly
Hamza Ali Mazari is caught between rival gangs, corrupt officials, and a closing net, a man whose mission has curdled into something far more personal and far more dangerous. At 3 hours and 49 minutes, Aditya Dhar’s follow-up to Dhurandhar arrives with the weight of ambition and the drag of unchecked excess.
Ranveer Singh as Hamza Is Committed, Sometimes to a Fault
Ranveer Singh disappears into Hamza with characteristic ferocity. There is no winking at the audience here, this is a fully physical, fully committed performance that rarely lets up.
The problem is that the film gives him so much to carry, the character’s interior life gets buried under escalating plot mechanics. Sincerity is never in question. Focus sometimes is.
Aditya Dhar Builds Scale But Loses Discipline Around the Two-Hour Mark
Dhar proved with Uri that he understands kinetic momentum and patriotic urgency. That precision is visible in how he constructs threat and counter-threat across Dhurandhar: The Revenge.
But a nearly four-hour runtime is a structural argument that the screenplay cannot fully win. Scenes that should be scalpel-sharp start feeling padded by the third act, and the film’s dramatic rhythm suffers for it.
I kept wondering whether a tighter 2 hours 40 would have made this feel genuinely dangerous rather than occasionally exhausting. The ambition is real. The discipline, less so.
The Action Is the Film’s Spine, When It Works, It Really Works
The central conflict, Hamza’s personal war spiralling out against Major Iqbal and a web of corruption, gives the action genuine stakes. When the choreography is tight, the violence feels earned, not decorative.
Dhar has always understood geography in action sequences. You rarely lose track of who is where, which is rarer in Hindi commercial action than it should be. The spatial logic holds even when the narrative logic wobbles.
Where the genre execution falters is in repetition. By the third major confrontation, the film is cycling through similar beats, close-quarters combat, betrayal, narrow escape, without sufficiently escalating the emotional cost each time.
If you enjoy Hindi action drama, there is more to browse at Hindi Thriller reviews that track how this genre has evolved over the past few years.
The Supporting Cast Orbits Ranveer Without Landing Their Own Moments
The villain Major Iqbal functions more as a structural device than a fully realised antagonist. A menacing presence on paper, but the screenplay never gives the character room to breathe into something genuinely unsettling.
The supporting ensemble, corrupt officials, rival gang figures, exists largely to create complications for Hamza. None of them get a scene that belongs distinctly to them, which flattens the world considerably.
The Propaganda Question Hangs Over the Film’s Patriotic Register
Dhurandhar: The Revenge has already attracted the label of propaganda from sections of its audience, particularly in corners of Letterboxd where viewers have pushed back against its ideological framing. It is a charge worth taking seriously.
Dhar’s filmmaking has always operated at the intersection of action spectacle and nationalist sentiment, Uri made that template hugely successful. Whether The Revenge earns its political register through complexity, or simply inherits the template, is a question each viewer will answer differently.
What is clear is that the film is uninterested in ambiguity. That clarity is both its commercial asset and its critical liability.
If you find yourself in the mood for another franchise continuation that wrestles with legacy and audience expectation, the Aadu 3 review makes for an interesting contrast in how sequels handle returning characters.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge is worth a single theatrical viewing if you invested in the first film and want to see where Hamza lands, but go in knowing this is a film that tests patience as much as it rewards it. The spectacle is real, the runtime is punishing, and the dramatic payoff is uneven at best. For casual viewers, waiting for an OTT release and watching in two sittings is likely the more sensible call.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge earns respect for its scale and Ranveer Singh’s commitment, but Aditya Dhar’s refusal to cut the fat ultimately leaves this sprawling sequel stranded somewhere between genuine tension and self-indulgence, a 2.5 out of 5 that wants badly to be more.
Ankit Jaiswal is the Chief Author, covering Indian cinema and OTT releases with honest, no-filler criticism. An SEO strategist by background, he brings a research-driven approach to film writing, cutting through hype to tell you exactly what's worth your time.
