A Bollywood spy thriller has develop into a political weapon, deployed by all sides throughout the huge expanse of India — from states like Kerala and Assam the place elections are being held this week, to the nation’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh that’s set to vote early subsequent yr.
‘Dhurandhar’ first half launched final yr and broke field workplace data; sequel got here in March and additional upped the sport. (Nonetheless from trailer)
For the reason that launch of its first half in December 2025, ‘Dhurandhar’, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh, has damaged field workplace data. The sequel, ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, launched on March 19, 2026; and has solely turned up the warmth. The imagery, dialogues, and its personal politics at the moment are being cited in election campaigns and social media battles.
‘Lyari’ Posters in Lucknow and Amethi
The newest flashpoint got here from Uttar Pradesh. Forward of the 2027 Vidhan Sabha elections wherein the ruling BJP hopes to proceed its reign, posters impressed by the movie have appeared in elements of Lucknow and Amethi, concentrating on opposition chief Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Occasion.
“Aap ko kya chahiye? Akhilesh ka Lyari raj,” says the slogan on these posters, asking if individuals would need lawlessness. Yogi Adityanath is named “Dhurandhar CM”. The phrase ‘dhurandhar’ primarily transaltes to ‘stalwart’.
The Pakistan reference, Lyari, is a neighbourhood of Karachi infamous for gang violence, and a significant location in ‘Dhurandhar’.
The hoardings, reported at a number of intersections in Lucknow and outdoors the Amethi railway station, have been put up by a bunch calling itself ‘Youth Towards Mafia’. Names and pictures of the organisation’s office-bearers are displayed on them too.
The Samajwadi Occasion has hit again, although. A celebration spokesperson in Amethi, Rajesh Mishra, mentioned the posters mirrored the “frustration and desperation” of the ruling BJP. “Such ways are getting used as a result of the BJP has realised it could not return to energy,” he mentioned, and claimed the general public was “conscious of those makes an attempt to mislead”.
Amethi police station in-charge Ravi Singh confirmed that authorities had acquired details about the posters and {that a} crew had been despatched to the areas.
PM Modi joins the fray
The movie reached the very high of Indian politics, too, a few days earlier when, at a public assembly in Thiruvalla, Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked ‘Dhurandhar’ alongside some earlier controversial movies to accuse the Congress and the Left of “recurring dishonesty”.
“Congress, UDF, LDF have developed a behavior of mendacity about all the things,” he mentioned. “Once we introduced in CAA — (the Citizenship Modification Act that sparked protests in 2019-20 over alleged discrimination towards Muslims) — they unfold so many lies; as we speak, CAA has been carried out, and the nation has suffered no hurt. When the movie ‘Kerala Recordsdata’ got here out, they began saying ‘it is all lies’; when ‘Kashmir Recordsdata’ got here out, they began saying ‘it is all lies’; when the movie ‘Dhurandhar’ got here, they once more mentioned it was based mostly on lies.”
Himanta brings it to Assam
In Assam, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP was unapologetic in regards to the political studying of the movie’s field workplace success.
“Simply take a look at how many individuals are going to look at it,” he mentioned, “It implies that there are a number of BJP-RSS individuals all over the world. Individuals are going to look at it in massive numbers. Which means those that are going to look at ‘Dhurandhar‘ are going to vote for the BJP. It’s good for us.”
It was an express acknowledgement of what critics had lengthy argued — that the movie served a political function by praising the BJP and Modi’s regime even at the price of twisting details in taking inventive liberty.
Congress assaults BJP, plus the movie and its politics
From the opposition’s aspect, Congress MP Tariq Anwar launched one of many sharpest assaults on ‘Dhurandhar’, and by extension the BJP. Anwar mentioned within the week of the sequel’s launch: “It’s clear that individuals who made the movie are mainly hatemongers. They’ve taken the contract to unfold hatred throughout the nation.”
He added, “By means of the violence proven within the movie, an try to create an environment towards a specific group has been made. That is BJP’s agenda. The movie has been made to advertise that agenda. Those that are doing this stuff, the BJP and the RSS, are forgetting that this can become a significant drawback for India within the time to return.”
Raghav Chadha vs AAP
Maybe essentially the most uncommon use of ‘Dhurandhar’ got here not from the BJP or Congress, however from an Aam Aadmi Occasion chief — directed on the AAP itself.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, who was eliminated because the occasion’s deputy chief within the Higher Home, launched a video response to allegations from occasion seniors together with Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Sanjay Singh, who’ve mentioned he’s been elevating “mushy points” and never concentrating on PM Modi and the BJP-led NDA over actual points.
“There’s a scripted marketing campaign towards me. They’re utilizing the identical language, the identical points, the identical allegations,” Chadha mentioned.
He ended the video with a line lifted straight from ‘Dhurandhar’: “Ghayal hoon, isliye ghatak hoon.” — “I’m wounded, due to this fact I’m harmful.” The dialogue additional references two Sunny Deol motion movies.
What’s in ‘Dhurandhar’
On the centre of all that is the movie itself. ‘Dhurandhar’ follows an Indian intelligence operative, Hamza Ali Mazari, who infiltrates the Lyari neighbourhood of Karachi to dismantle a terror community. The movie attracts free inspiration from actual occasions together with the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Parliament assault, and the 2008 Mumbai assaults. It turned the highest-grossing Hindi movie of 2025. Its sequel has already damaged these data.
Critics have famous that the movie’s timeline is selective. Key occasions together with the Kandahar hijack, the Parliament assault, and the Pahalgam assault of 2025 all passed off underneath BJP-led governments. The covert operation depicted within the movie was reportedly initiated throughout the Congress period. The movie, critics argue, presents a special impression.
Aditya Dhar has contested the propaganda label. “I genuinely really feel that the present authorities does not want a small movie like ours to win an election. They constructed the Ram Mandir — one thing that took 500 years to realize — so I do not suppose they depend on us for votes.” On his intent, he mentioned the movie was made with “patriotic function. “Audiences are sensible sufficient to not fall for such claims,” he mentioned.
On Tuesday, cricket entered the fray too, finishing India’s troika of obsession with politics and cinema, when Staff India star Virat Kohli lavished reward on ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’.
He mentioned on Instagram: “Dare I say that I’ve by no means ever seen a cinematic expertise like this made in India. It introduced out each type of emotion to the floor and I did not flinch as soon as for nearly 4 hours… Aditya Dhar your expertise and conviction is mirrored in what you’ve got created. Hats off to you. You are a genius.”
Dhar responded with a “Woooowww!”, and wrote, “Watching a once-in-a-generation legend present love like this simply hits completely different.”
He talked about Kohli’s affect past cricket: “The way in which you carry the nation each time you step out evokes us, in our personal small manner, we’ll attempt to make India proud with our movie Jai Hind.”
