Aditya Dhar’s film Dhurandhar is setting box office records within days of release, crossing the 350 crore rupee mark effortlessly. It has prompted a piqued Pakistani minister from the Sindh provincial government to announce a counter film.
Whether that happens or not, Dhurandhar is as real as it gets, says Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief StratNews Global. In a conversation on The Gist, Gokhale who has seen the film, says it is the “portrayal of Pakistani gang wars… some of the characters are very well known in real life too…
And the setting of the film, Lyari in Karachi, it exists even today and was the ugly battle ground as criminal gangs fought for supremacy. Add to that characters like ISI Major Iqbal who unleashed the attack on Mumbai in 2008.
“Your attention is completely on the screen because it’s a very tight screenplay,” said Gokhale, pointing out that “the violence is stylized but they have not shied away from showing flesh and blood … heads being severed and, more interestingly, they’ve juxtaposed this with some of the real events between India and Pakistan. The (Kandahar) hijack and the barely disguised persona of Ajit Doval.”
The film marks a departure from the usual Bollywood film that tried to ensure a balance between India and Pakistan.
“Bollywood always shied away from giving it to Pakistan or portraying Pakistan as it is,” Gokhale said, “(In Dhurandhar) there is no monkey balancing that characterised Hindi films on Pakistan be it Bajrangi Bhaijaan or Ek Tha Tiger.”
Dhurandhar talks realistically about the nexus between the political parties in Karachi and the gangs of Lyari. It unmasks the ugly face of the ISI-gangster nexus that has joined forces to bleed India.
The film includes shots from the Kandahar hijack of Dec 1999, the Mumbai attacks, even fake Indian currency notes printed in Pakistan, all of which are real and find recollection among many even today.
Dhurandhar could be the trendsetter, the harbinger of more such films, perhaps the true story of the execution of Pakistani politician Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1979, or the assassination of his daughter Benazir at a Rawalpindi rally in Dec 2007.
Even better, Indians of this generation need to know the facts behind the Assam agitation that started in 1979 ending only in 1985; or Operation Blue Star of 1984. So many stories to tell.
Tune in for more in this conversation with Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, StratNews Global.
Thirty eight years in journalism, widely travelled, history buff with a preference for Old Monk Rum. Current interest/focus spans China, Technology and Trade. Recent reads: Steven Colls Directorate S and Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon. Netflix/Prime video junkie. Loves animal videos on Facebook. Reluctant tweeter.
