Dhurandhar (2025): Cast, Story & OTT Details

Dhurandhar is a spy action thriller written and directed by Aditya Dhar, led by Ranveer Singh with an ensemble that includes Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal and R. Madhavan. It is the first of two parts.

Release date and status

Dhurandhar released on 5 December 2025. Release markets: India (theatrical), worldwide. Language: Hindi.

OTT release

The film began streaming on Netflix on 30 January 2026 in Hindi, with Tamil and Telugu dubs. The streaming version is about 9 minutes shorter (205 minutes). Wikipedia reports that Netflix paid ₹85 crore for the rights.

Cast and crew

• Director: Aditya Dhar
• Writer: Aditya Dhar
• Music: Shashwat Sachdev
• Cast: Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Gaurav Gera, Danish Pandor

Production history

Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar announced the film on social media in July 2024, and the title was revealed in December 2024. It was produced by Aditya Dhar, Lokesh Dhar and Jyoti Deshpande for Jio Studios and B62 Studios. Principal photography ran from July 2024 to October 2025 in India and Thailand. Conceived as a single film, the project was later split into two parts because of its scale, with both shot together; the reported ₹250–255 crore budget covers both. The story is loosely inspired by real events including the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks and Pakistan's Operation Lyari.

Trailer and music

A first-look poster and teaser were released on 6 July 2025, Singh's 40th birthday. The trailer, originally due on 12 November, was postponed after the 2025 Delhi car explosion and launched on 18 November 2025 in Mumbai. The audio launch was held on 1 December 2025.

Shashwat Sachdev composed the music, his second film with Dhar after Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), with lyrics by Irshad Kamil; Saregama holds the rights. The title track (15 October 2025), sung by Hanumankind and Jasmine Sandlas, reworks the 1995 Punjabi song "Na Dil De Pardesi Nu". "Ishq Jalakar (Karvaan)" (25 November 2025), recreating the qawwali "Na To Karvan Ki Talash Hai" from Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), was released early because of demand, followed by "Gehra Hua" on 27 November.

Certification and runtime

The CBFC gave the film an 'A' certificate for strong violence, with a runtime of 214 minutes after some violent visuals were modified. The runtime is 214 minutes.

Box office

Trade tracking cited by Wikipedia shows about ₹24 crore on day one, ₹27 crore on day two and ₹35.5 crore on day three, for a worldwide opening of about ₹86.5 crore. The film grew in its second week, earning more than ₹30 crore Hindi net on its second Monday, the highest for any Indian film. It crossed ₹1,000 crore worldwide on 26 December 2025, as the fourth Hindi film to do so.

The final worldwide gross is ₹1,350.83 crore (₹1,056.62 crore India and ₹293.03 crore overseas). That made it the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025, the third highest-grossing Hindi film ever and the highest-grossing A-certified Indian film. Overseas, it crossed US$2 million in its first North American weekend, although it was effectively not released in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Critical reception

Reviews were mixed; Rotten Tomatoes listed 35% of 20 critics' reviews as positive (average 5.8/10). Trade analyst Taran Adarsh gave it 4.5/5, calling it a power-packed spectacle. Gayatri Nirmal of Pinkvilla (4/5) praised the second half, screenplay and score but found it too long. Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India (3.5/5) praised Ranveer Singh's restrained performance and the Karachi underworld setting. IGN's Siddhant Adlakha (8/10) wrote that the film balances raucous entertainment against accusations of propaganda.

Post-release changes and controversies

• On 31 December 2025, distributors replaced the cinema print across India with a version that muted words including "Baloch", after members of the Baloch community sent a legal notice alleging defamation.
• While promoting the film at IFFI Goa, Singh faced backlash for imitating a Bhoota Kola daiva ritual and later apologised; an FIR alleging hurt religious sentiments was filed in January 2026.
• On Netflix, according to Wikipedia, the film trended at number one in 22 countries and became the first Indian film to cross 7 million views in its opening weekend, with 7.6 million views.

Sequel

The post-credits scene sets up Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which was released on 19 March 2026 (Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Eid al-Fitr) in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.