Dhurandhar The Revenge Movie Review: Masterful, marvellous mythmaking

Dhurandhar The Revenge Review:

The biggest reveal in Dhurandhar: The Revenge is not the identity of Bade Sahab but the identity of demonetisation. Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi (the real deal, in an actual news footage; a rarity for the big screen) comes on TV to give his own “stroke of the midnight hour” speech, nullifying all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, R Madhavan’s spymaster Ajay Sanyal orders his subordinate to execute “Operation Greenleaf.” Soon after we see, not the long queues outside banks or small businessmen crying over losses, but a terror funder in Pakistan lamenting over the dire situation he is in. He has fake currency of over Rs 60,000 crore which has now been rendered useless. I let out a cackle but quickly composed myself. I was sitting in a packed hall.

Written and directed by: Aditya Dhar

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan Rakesh Bedi and Sara Arjun

Dhurandhar: The Revenge is mythmaking at its cool, suave, stylish and high-octane best. If its filmmaking is arresting, its propaganda is even more unsubtle. The film seems to convey that everything that is happening is part of a bigger, masterful plan, mortal viewers like us will be unable to comprehend. If you are feeling distressed about the future of the country, about our standing in front of the US, about LPG shortage or fears of fuel crisis, just come, sit in the cinema hall and get lost in the movie magic, or better, spell. You are in safe hands.

After putting Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna) in the grave, Indian asset Hamza Ali Mazari (Ranveer Singh) is on to strike off more names in his spy diary. The immediate aftermath of Dakait’s death is a gangwar in Lyari town between the Balochs, now headed by Uzair (Danish Pandor) and Arshad Pappu’s (Ashwin Dhar) Pathan gang. Soon enough, with some wits and firepower, Hamza gets Arshad out of his hiding place and Uzair gives him some head-severing justice. But Hamza has plans for Uzair as well. After getting him behind bars, Hamza takes over the throne of Lyari and gets even more embedded in the Pakistani underworld-terror networks. His influence increases. He gets thicker with toady politician Jameel Jamali (Rakesh Bedi) and the astute SP Chaudhary Aslam (Sanjay Dutt). Bade Sahab invites him for a house call too. But with each step, Hamza is trying to foil the nefarious plans of the Pakistan underworld-terror syndicate all while keeping his identity covert.

The most revelatory and thrilling portions of the film are when we get to know Jaskirat Singh Rangi and what unfortunate circumstances led him to become Hamza Ali Mazari. We see him as a vulnerable, 21-year-old boy, who once dreamt of donning the Army uniform, but because of an untoward incident and a violent retaliation is now on death row. Eventually he is saved, recruited and given a rebirth by Madhavan’s Ajay Sanyal for operation Dhurandhar. Jaskirat/ Hamza’s interiority portrayed by Ranveer Singh’s subliminal performance is the highlight of the film. With multiple plans in motion, mind games, back-stabbings and political manoeuvrings, Ranveer’s act is the emotional core of the film, grounding it whenever it starts going haywire.

Although I had problems with the prequel over its runtime, The Revenge’s 3 hours and 49 minutes duration sailed easier. The film keeps rattling on and there is either a joke or a blast when it gets sluggish. While Dhurandhar delivered the joys of a gangster epic, The Revenge has the stealth-and-strike machinations of a spy thriller (There is also a slow poison hidden in a ring. A smart, medieval touch). It’s thrilling to witness Hamza chip off the Pakistani syndicate bit by bit but what the film lacks is a formidable adversary. Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal is at his conniving best and Sanjay Dutt’s SP Aslam is still entertaining with his flowery expletives but none of them could fill an Akshaye Khanna sized hole.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge continues to exhibit a strong command over its craft. I liked how an action sequence opened with a minimalistic image of just two innocuous grenades flying before blasting off in fiery fury. Director Aditya Dhar ably reigns the narrative and in a bid to remain engaging doesn’t resort to inundating the film with one action setup after another. The plot gets breathing time and some revelations are truly whistle-worthy. The Revenge’s genre pleasures keep you hooked but its political pushes are the ones that break the immersion. The film often seems desperate to convince its viewer how every action taken by the current regime was thought through. The Naxal movement, Punjab’s drug menace, Kashmir’s separatist inclinations, fake currency notes all have Pakistan’s evil tentacles over them whereas demonetisation and UP gangster Atiq Ahmed’s (called Atif Ahmed in the film) live assassination were all part of the regime’s grand plan to foil the neighbouring country’s devious methods. It can’t be that simplistic but then it’s just a movie. It’s the business of selling dreams.