Folks, sharing my thoughts on #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge. As I said in this tweet below, INTENSE is the word.
It is quite a bit different from Dhurandhar1, in my opinion. I’ll try and explain how and why.
Let’s see how it goes ..
(Link to above tweet)
At the outset, I’ll leave This Blog Post about the first part here.
Needless to say, the team of @AdityaDharFilms, @AdityaRajKaul, @RanveerOfficial, @ActorMadhavan, @yamigautam and all others associated with the film have once again outdone themselves.
I’ll assume most folks here have already seen the film.
However, aim of this blog post is not to review the film itself, but instead, to talk about the ‘Dhurandhar Effect’ and some personal insights into what has been shown in the film.
IMO, if the first part was about giving vent to the frustrations that people of my generation felt as we went thru mindless terror attacks in the 80s, 90s and all the way upto the Mumbai Attacks of 2008.
A bomb blast every couple of months had become the norm.
Pakistan sponsored terror was at its peak till about the Mumbai Terror Attacks and for some more time thereafter. All that we could do was sit in impotent rage, seeing our country do nothing.
No wonder the Paakis were so cocky.
No wonder, Dhurandhar1 shows them thusly.
Dhurandhar1 was about ‘Edge of the Seat’ violence as Hamza went about systematically annihilating all roadblocks in his ascent to the top. #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge, however, is more about a sense of anticipation as the race to the climax builds up.
‘Will He Survive?’ is the question in everyone’s mind, especially towards the latter half of the film.
In the end, he does survive .. but one leaves with another doubt all over again : ‘Did he actually survive as the Jaskirat / Hamza that he was before it all ended?’
That’s the beauty of this production.
It leaves you strangely satisfied at the end of the nearly eight hours of both movies, and it also leaves you with a battleground of thoughts within.
Both these Dhurandhar movies will survive for decades to come, and be studied over and over again .. not just for cinematic brilliance but also about how films as a medium turned the mood of an entire Nation. I know some folks will take offence at my saying so, but I think about the impact that Ramanand Sagar Ji’s Ramayan had in changing the destiny of the Nation, as I try to get a handle on the impact of Dhurandhar.
Both the Dhurandhar movies have been unabashed in NOT being politically correct.
Unabashed in showing the terror factories of Pakistan in all their dirtiness.
Unabashed about showing the hatred that Pakistanis have towards India/Hindus.
I’ll just leave these short clips from Pakistani Senate to reinforce the points I made in the tweet above. Mind you, these are Paaki Parliamentarians speaking INSIDE their parliament – one gloating about the glory of Pulwama attack & one fantasizing about destroying Ram Mandir!
They won’t mind one bit if you and I die in a terror attack on our own soil, sponsored by their country.
And then there are those within our borders who are AGHAST that a movie shows Pakistani terrorists getting killed inside Pakistan!
Let me also share another snap that talks about ‘Peak Detailing’ by @AdityaDharFilms. When Major Iqbal finally snaps at his father and reminds him that his pants were removed by Indians in 1971 he wasn’t joking!
The Brown Panted ones were indeed systematically ‘Depanted’ in 1971!
Of course, just to be clear, I do claim copyright to the phrase ‘Depanted’!
(Link to above tweet)
While on the topic of Major Iqbal’s family, remember his father gloating about raping thousands of Bengali women in Erstwhile East Pakistan? Well, that is yet another fact that is repeatedly downplayed by Pakistanis but refuses to die, because it is ABSOLUTELY TRUE.
And of course there is that special child sired by Major Iqbal. I am aghast that no one in the ‘Peak Detailing’ Brigade linked it to the rampant cousin marriages in Pakistan and the resultant genetic disorders caused by inbreeding out there!
On the topic of cousin marriages, here is a short ‘chronological’ thread that I had done some years ago.
MUST have a look!
Ok, back to the movie as such.
One big difference that I found in the first and the second part was that in the first part, even the villains were humanized (credit for this insight to @speaknsee who highlighted this in his review of the first part)
But in a marked contrast, in #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge, the baddies were shown with the absolute contempt that they deserve. All that they were shown worthy of was slow, agonizing and painful deaths.
Once again, immensely satisfying to watch.
@AdityaDharFilms commenced the movie with a Shlok from the Bhagavad Gita. In light of what I wrote above, I was reminded of this realization that dawned on me when I myself read a version of the revered epic some years ago.
(Link to above tweet)
Yes, it is a BOUNDEN DUTY to annihilate enemies of your Nation.
And this is exactly what Hamza did, guided as he was by Sanyal Saab and all others.
And the way he did it!
Both parts of Dhurandhar showed action and violence in a way that no other Bollywood movie has managed to do before.
There were none of those flying cars launched with gas cylinders, or laws of physics are optional!
The action and dare I say, VIOLENCE, in Dhurandhar has been exceptional.
What the two-part Dhurandhar has done to Bollywood will only become apparent in the months and years to come. Remember the shrill noises of disapproval and sermonizing reviews by the Bollywood ecosystem during Dhurandhar1?
Did you see even 10% of that for #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge?
Looks like they did get the message – not only on Social Media, but via Box Office as well.
Period.
If Dhurandhar1 was about the build-up of frustration at unpunished terror from Pakistan, #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge was about REVENGE .. icy cold revenge.
It was about the rise of a new India.
It was based on actual change in sentiment in the middle of the previous decade.
The defining dialogue of this film was when Ajay Sanyal gives a free hand to Hamza.
The sense of anticipation amongst the audience was instantaneous.
And Hamza went berserk!
As if the lid on a pressure cooker finally gave way.
The hero, and through him India, was not merely waiting and/or reacting. This time he was causing things to happen.
This time HE had taken the lead and taken control of the escalation ladder.
This time he was the reflection of an increasingly confident country.
The Dhurandhar Duology has given an expression to the feelings most of us have had within our hearts but were unable to express for various reasons, one amongst them being the fear of being labelled as an ‘extremist’, just for daring to speak against Pakistan sponsored terror!
Of course, the erstwhile ecosystem is still thrashing about.
They still call it a propaganda.
They are perfectly entitled to their opinions.
But in my opinion, they will soon become fossils of an era gone by.
Mark this.
(Link to above tweet)
What the Dhurandhar Duology will unleash is an altogether new genre of cinema.
And mind you, a major reason for this will also be sheer economics. If two films by @AdityaDharFilms make nearly 5000 Crore, why wouldn’t someone else try to emulate that, right?
Copycat productions will soon flood the market.
But most of them will fall flat.
Why, you asked?
Well, firstly, because of the sheer brilliance in production by @AdityaDharFilms and his team, not to mention the ‘Peak Detailing’!
And secondly, because most of them just will NOT be able to shed political correctness because that is how they have been nurtured by the ecosystem.
THIS is where a new breed of film-makers is likely to find their feet.
For the new to rise, the old needn’t die.
Instead, the old can just be made irrelevant.
In that context, this vid of @yamigautam apparently being ignored during a film promotion some years ago is worth a watch.
Dare I say, that the old will soon become irrelevant.
The ‘oldies’ will either fade away, or be forced to reinvent themselves.
And it will happen much sooner than we think.
THIS is what the #Dhurandhar duology has achieved.
Of course, they themselves have some help from their own ‘Unknown Men’!
I am sure the identity of Dibya S will be another mystery to be solved in the near future!
But jokes apart, the research consultants in form of @AdityaRajKaul and Dibya S have done a fantastic job.
The persona of Major Iqbal is no doubt based on Ilyas Kashmiri as was surmised by me in my review of the first part.
(Link to above tweet)
That was further reinforced in #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge when Major Iqbal boasts that he had presented the head of an Indian soldier to Musharraf.
This too happened in real life.
The bastard was rewarded Rs 1Lac by Musharraf.
Both, Ilyas and Musharraf died horrible deaths.
Ilyas died in a drone strike by USA, with intel provided by Paaki intel agencies.
Musharraf died a slow & agonizing death, yearning to return to Pakistan.
No tears were shed by me atleast on these two deaths.
Yet another piece of brilliance that I personally found in #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge was the ending.
Instead of a song and dance as might have been warranted in a traditional ‘formula’ film, all that Ajay Sanyal told Jaskirat was ‘Well Done’ and ‘Come for Debriefing Tomorrow’.
This was in stark contrast to the high octane action that had been dished out for more than three hours before this scene!
And a perfect end to the movie when Jaskirat burns yet another family photo, this time of his family in Pakistan and heads back to his ‘pind’ in Punjab!
The sheer ebb and flow of emotions throughout the duology is the hallmark of the work of a true master of his craft.
The way the movie ended, was almost exactly the way it began – From the house of Jaskirat Singh Rangi.
Of course, the one place where Shri @AdityaDharFilms’s ‘Peak Detailing’ went wrong was in the casting of Raj Zutshi!
Technically, Sanay Datt’s character couldn’t have been the Jinn, when Raj Zutshi was there!
Raj Zutshi was the original Jinn from the 80s!
But jokes apart, it was as if each and every actor/actress was born to play the part that they played in the Dhurandhar duology.
It is a testament not just to their brilliant acting, but also to brilliant direction by the Director.
Overall, an all-rounder effort by the team.
As I close this thread, I will also highlight a cruel and unintentional ‘Peak Detailing’ by @AdityaDharFilms.
He blew up an entire train of Kerosene in the midst of the Iran War!
I will end this thread with this short vid of @rampalarjun and the resounding BHARAT MATA KI JAI in the end that caused so many heartburns to so many fossils of the old ecosystem.
He extracted his own revenge by being part of this phenomenon of Dhurandhar.
My final addition to this chain of thoughts is this Blog Post On the Movie Chhaava that too turned out to be a politically ‘incorrect’ one and a mighty successful one at that.
May have a look.
Jai Hind!
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