Dhurandhar | Part 1 v Part 2 | Spoilers

[zen]

Both films have their strengths  including weaving in actual events into its story, and weaknesses including cinematic conveniences and length. Below is a quick take on both parts (from a film making perspective): 

 

 

Dhurandhar 1 

 

At its heart, this is a gangster/mob film where the protagonist is an Indian agent planted in Karachi's underworld, which impacts entire Pakistan. It is about how he plays the system to rise in underworld. Being a crime-mafia film, it focuses on the criminals-politicians nexus, along with how ISI uses this nexus as a tool for its agenda. 

 

The film was dominated by Akshay Khanna's performance as Sher-e-Baloch. Rakesh Bedi shone as the chameleon. Other actors played their parts too. 

 

It had slow sequences where the love story felt a bit stretched, saved somewhat by the daughter spying on her father for the Dhurandhar. During marriage ceremonies, the film-maker took the opportunity to insert the token formulaic Bollywood dance numbers. The end (Et tu Brutus?) was relatively lame, full of cinematic conveniences. I left  the cinema early in my second viewing as the causal way of removing the other brother from the mix, people sleeping in the car, the extended hand to hand battle. SP Chaudhry being stationed at the far end of the remote road, etc., was relatively too bland as if the filmmaker wanted to lazily wrap this up.  

 

The rise of the protagonist, Dhurandhar,  can be said to be similar to the rise of Damien (the antichrist, #666) in Omen films. Where things eventually work out for him. 

 

4/5

 

 

Dhurandhar 2 

 

In a way, this could serve as a stand alone film. With the Indian agent now in control in the Pakistani underworld, he is eventually given a free hand. He takes the opportunity to kill those involved in sabotaging India. 

 

As a film, this one is structured relatively nicely, leaning more towards being a gory action film. There are no token dance numbers or love story angles. It is focused on the "revenge" aspect. It almost feels like a Hollywood film made by Bollywood. The killings are more or less nicely done reflecting historical events where applicable. 

 

While Akshay Khanna's charm is missing and Rakesh Bedi has a relatively short role, other actors pick up their game. Only time you miss Akshay Khanna is when you compare his version of Sher-e-Baloch to Ranvir's version in the Balochistan sequence. I did not connect much with Sanjay Dutt's version of SP Chaudary in Dhurandar 1, so was glad to see him bumped off. As the film progressed, Arjun Rampal came to the party. In a chilling manner, he kills his own father, who served to provide a commentary on the ingrained hatred in the 1970s and earlier generation in Pakistan. 

 

As the film neared its end, I was worried that it might repeat the mistakes of Dhurandhar 1, but while stretching, it made up with some good action sequences including a decent gun battle and chase sequence in the streets of Karachi. The torture segment by ISI. And the master reveal of the chameleon being the top Indian agent (Dhurandhar) who had positioned Dawood a long time ago. The end in India paired well with the opening sequence in India. 

 

Overall, ignoring cinematic conveniences and length, will give it a 5/5 as a well made, focused, gory action film!

 

Will give it a second watch soon. 

 

 

[zen]

I am watching the part 2 currently for the second time, writing this during the interval. 

This has offered a relatively better viewing experience than part 1. Because the action is nearly constant, the background score with beats provides the viewing experience similar to watching a Bourne film. 
 

I think if this is released on a 100 GB 4K Blu-ray disc, this will provide a superb home viewing experience with the right home audio-video setup! 

[IndianRenegade]

Do they still do blue ray discs?

[zen]

2 hours ago, IndianRenegade said:

Do they still do blue ray discs?

Yes! … However, I haven’t seen any for Bollywood films  … Companies like Criterion pick classic/notable films from all over the world to release them on this format. Criterion has released the Apu Trilogy on 4K Blu-ray. 
 

For Bollywood, my wish list is below, from the top of the mind recall and in the order of release: 

Baazi (1951)

Aan (1952)

Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai (1960)

Kala Bazar (1960)

Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963)

Junglee (1961)

Professor (1962)

Teesri Manzil (1966)

Bobby (1973)

Dil Se (1998)

Dhurandhar 2 (2026)

Edited March 24 by zen

[zen]

Btw, Aditya’s wife, Yami,  made a cameo in Dhurandhar 2 as the nurse Shazia Bano. 

Edited March 24 by zen

[IndianRenegade]

Durandhar is our version of Munich.

[zen]

Dhar, who is currently in his best creative period, should be given the task to direct the next Bond film especially if the story (or a part of the story) takes place in Asia!

[kepler37b]

20 hours ago, zen said:

Dhar, who is currently in his best creative period, should be given the task to direct the next Bond film especially if the story (or a part of the story) takes place in Asia!

My peeve with Durandhar is that he filled the movie with one popular punjabi song after another. May be it is to hold the attention of tik tok generation. He needs to improve on that and accommodate the musical culture of other parts of the country.

 

I personally feel Sandeep Vanga is better.  But he needs to come out of that victimhood complex. The dude excels at character based story development. 

Edited March 26 by kepler37b

[ravishingravi]

2 minutes ago, kepler37b said:

My peeve with Durandhar is that he filled the movie with one popular punjabi song after another. May be it is to hold the attention of tik tok generation. He needs to improve on that and accommodate the musical culture of other parts of the country.

 

I personally feel Sandeep Vanga is better.  But he needs to come out of that victimhood complex. The dude excels at character based story development. 

 

It's effectively north Indian / Punjabi and Pakistani story

[kepler37b]

1 minute ago, ravishingravi said:

 

It's effectively north Indian / Punjabi and Pakistani story

 

Vanga used telugu/marathi/tamil/punjabi sound tracks for essentially a Punjabi story. 

 

Edited March 26 by kepler37b

[zen]

2 hours ago, kepler37b said:

My peeve with Durandhar is that he filled the movie with one popular punjabi song after another. May be it is to hold the attention of tik tok generation. He needs to improve on that and accommodate the musical culture of other parts of the country.

 

I personally feel Sandeep Vanga is better.  But he needs to come out of that victimhood complex. The dude excels at character based story development. 

Dhar picked middle eastern and western, along with Bollywood, songs as well. 
 

At the end of the day, filmmakers are making films to satisfy their creative vision and earn money. Film making should not be reduced to ticking boxes. 

PS one of the positives for Dhurandhar 2 is that Dhar avoided ticking boxes by not inserting dance numbers / item songs, romance, etc. He made it more or less a gory action film, to give it, in a way, a Hollywood like film made by Bollywood vibes.

 

Edited March 26 by zen

[ravishingravi]

 

[kepler37b]

4 hours ago, zen said:

Dhar picked middle eastern and western, along with Bollywood, songs as well. 
 

At the end of the day, filmmakers are making films to satisfy their creative vision and earn money. Film making should not be reduced to ticking boxes. 

PS one of the positives for Dhurandhar 2 is that Dhar avoided ticking boxes by not inserting dance numbers / item songs, romance, etc. He made it more or less a gory action film, to give it, in a way, a Hollywood like film made by Bollywood vibes.

 

Of course the film is the language of film maker.

 

But some have expertise/touch/tastes across various cultures and some have across limited ones.

 

[zen]

1 hour ago, kepler37b said:

Of course the film is the language of film maker.

 

But some have expertise/touch/tastes across various cultures and some have across limited ones.

 

 

What I liked about Dhurandhar 2 is that it lacks the masala formula relatively speaking. Most Indian filmmakers, and Dhar did that to some extent in part 1 as well, would throw in dance numbers, unnecessary comedy, romance, etc., but Dhar filled the run time with more and long action sequences! 

 

The last chapter with action in the mosque, leading to the death of Iqbal, was lengthy. But I would take that in a focused gory action film over some dance numbers thrown in at a wedding ceremony and a bar, a romantic song, etc. 

 

 

 

 

 

[zen]

Dhurandhar 2 surpassed the lifetime collection of Dhurandhar 1, which was released only 3 months back, in just 11-12 days!