Dhurandhar (2025)

Dhurandhar feels special because it treats the spy-thriller like a high-stakes craft, not a loud shortcut: every scene is built with purpose, tension, and a grounded sense of consequence. Aditya Dhar’s direction keeps the pace taut and the world convincingly lived-in, while Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna bring a crackling intensity that makes the mission feel personal without turning it melodramatic. The action lands with a realistic punch—more nerve and precision than spectacle—and the screenplay is smart enough to let suspense do the heavy lifting. If you want escapist, glossy heroics, this may feel too intense and procedural, but if you’re craving an immersive, gripping thriller that respects your intelligence, it’s hard to shake.

Dhurandhar is clearly aiming for a gritty, high-stakes espionage thriller rooted in real national trauma, with an undercover mission that wants to feel sprawling and consequential. The problem is it sprawls too much: the runtime and uneven pacing drag, and the script doesn’t always give its key players enough depth to make the tension land. If you’re sensitive to heavy-handed nationalism, stereotypical portrayals, or graphic violence, this can feel more like a blunt instrument than a nuanced thriller. That said, if you enjoy loud, relentless action and don’t mind a broad, chest-thumping tone, there are moments of momentum and scale that may still work for you.