Three months after the first part of the Bollywood blockest-buster of all time, we are consumed by the fervour of the second part for an almost-four-hour marathon Dhurandhar-fest, which is turning out to be even a bigger blockbuster than before.
The story continues from where we left off last. With Rahman Baloch dead, Hamza (Ranveer Singh) manipulates his brother Uzair in fleeing the country, making himself the leader of the gang and of Lyari, building strong ties with the Baloch community, becoming the ‘Sher-e-Baloch’, and playing the Karachi politics to the hilt; making himself the potent puppet master of the entire crime-ISI-Government nexus, and then using his position to one-by-one destroy the inner machinery of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, finally achieving the mission that he was sent for and has been building towards for the last fifteen years. From Mission Impossible to Mission Accomplished.
Like I had written in my review of the first part (https://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2025/12/dhurandhar-part-1-2025-film-review.html), is this an important film, yes. For all the reasons I mentioned before. Because it shows a bold new confident India that we are all proud of, because it gives importance to strategy and the mind-driven action, not just physical violence and war mongering (though there’s enough of that too), and because of Ranveer’s silent-but-violent performance.
But, was it good storytelling as a movie? And I had said 6-7, because the Tarantino-style storytelling feels forced, the violence feels superficial, and the story feels a little too meandering and long. But I had also parked the hope that part 2 takes the storytelling much further and more impactful.
So does the second part deliver? I would say it like this.
Is it a great marketing success? 10/10. Many companies would kill to get a product launch as successful as this.
Is it a good film with great storytelling? I’d say 4-5.
Needless to say, don’t watch this film if you haven’t watched the first part. Of course, because you won’t get the story and the characters that are in continuation of the first film. In that sense, it’s basically a 7-hour movie, broken into two parts. Like, say, Peter Jackson’s iconic Return of the King, part 1 and 2. But don’t watch this without the first part, also because the first part is the better part, and it would be a shame to only watch the lesser of the two.
In part 1, while there is an intent, a plot, a mechanism, and a careful making of the rise of Dhurandhar, part 2 just becomes about the action and the kills. It’s a classic case of the thrill of the journey towards an imagined destination, which is always more exciting than finally reaching the destination. What happens when you’ve achieved your mission? Nothing! The fore-play that part 1 delivers is not matched by the explosion that seems to be the central purpose of part 2.
What disappoints is that what took fifteen years of patience and planning becomes an easy kill-all-the-bad-guys in one go. If it was so easy to outsmart all these goons in a few months, why the intricate, long, and painful effort? It’s like watching your favourite music artist on stage not playing what’s true to his/her art but only catering to what the audience wants to hear. No wonder the film is such a commercial success. The film shows what the audience wants to see and cheer for. Nothing wrong with that by itself, but there needs to be a balance between what the creator’s vision is and what the audience wants. Part 1 struck this balance better, with the intricate layers of Lyari politics, the frustrated patience of the Indian intelligence, and the understated violence of Hamza. And we’ve seen other movies do it as well. Meghna Gulzar’s brilliant Raazi comes to mind in the same context. Dhurandhar Part 2 shamelessly throws away all of it and delivers only the all-rage-loose “The Revenge” that the audience wants to see. That’s the reason it’s a great marketing launch of a product (understand what your consumer wants and deliver to that), but not exactly the best form of content, storytelling, or cinema. Alas, Part 2 has nothing new to offer that Part 1 already hadn’t established.
Also, it is important to remember that this film is not a sequel. It is the second part of the same movie, the same story. It’s like Netflix dropping Stranger Things Season 5 final episodes a couple of weeks after the first set of episodes. Sequels are like seasons in the OTT world. Sequels are different chapters in the life of the story; they tell new stories of the same franchise, explore new dimensions that were not done before, discover new characters or new facets of characters, and at the heart of it are basically different from their previous stories because they come after years of the first film. That’s why sequels can get away with some repetition, lack of newness, and more of the same, because that’s what they are meant to do. Think Oceans 11, then 12, then 13. Basically, the same plot, but we still enjoy each of them for exactly that. Dhurandhar 2, however, is not a sequel. Three months is not long enough to feel nostalgic about the first part that we start enjoying more of the same. That’s where the film goes wrong. And we are left seeing nothing new or different that would move the story that started 3 months ago forward.
The other thing we miss is that while there is a lot of blood and gore, there isn’t enough good violence. To be clear, gore is not the same as violence. What makes for a potent story is good, credible, and violence-that-you-feel. Think John Wick, think Kill Bill, think 300.There is blood and gore, but the underlying psychology and emotions makes the violence hit home in your bones.. Dhurandhar, by contrast, puts gore on the surface, and while we see it, we don’t feel it. Plus, there is a lot of random violence, which doesn’t make sense and takes away the little impact that was possible. Like why did he have to kill his old friend, who has now become a drug dealer? Why was that whole sequence/ needed at all? It doesn’t lead to anything! As a result, we clap and shout along with the action, but don’t really take anything with us when we leave the cinema hall.
However, having said that, despite all the flaws, the film is very watchable. It is predictable, but also enjoyable. One can’t help cheering for Hamza, as he finally becomes true to who he is and does what Jaskirat Singh was meant for. The first sequence of his backstory is brilliantly done and starts the film on a high. After all, we ARE part of the audience that the film is made for. We enjoy “the revenge” that he takes against the terrorist machinery of our neighbouring state, destroying them one by one, their financiers, their weaponry, their supporters, their money, their plans, and their supreme leader who is behind it all (that comes as a great reveal!). Some of the plot twists and turns, especially at the end, are worthy of a thriller movie. Full points for that.
And more than anything, what makes the film is the music and the sound throughout the storytelling. Mixing retro Bollywood with blood-fest action, and the use of sound to make the impact of the story is absolutely genius. And hits the spot. If you don’t believe me, try watching the film with your ears closed. It will not be a patch.
All in all, should you watch the film? Absolutely. It’s good fun, if you don’t mind the length of the film and the blood and the gore. But, is it great Bollywood big cinema that we hoped it would be that we will remember for a long time? Perhaps not!
