Hindi Cinema’s Alarming Shift Toward Islamophobia and Hindu Nationalism

Dhurandhar portrays Indian intelligence operatives entering Pakistani soil to strike at Karachi’s criminal networks. The story unfolds largely in Lyari, a turbulent Karachi neighborhood with a large Baloch population.

Plot and setting

The central operative is attached to the Research & Analysis Wing, India’s external agency. He adopts local ways and embeds himself within Lyari’s streets and social life.

He infiltrates a gang led by a figure named Rehman Dakait. That character is loosely based on a real-life Lyari gangster of the same name.

Objectives and actions

The agent’s mission targets a terror infrastructure threaded through Karachi’s underworld. During the operation, he falls in love and gets married.

He ultimately dismantles the gang. The film links that gang to the 2008 Islamist attacks on Mumbai.

Ambiguity and broader context

The narrative leaves unclear whether the operative stops the Mumbai attacks. The film appears to reserve that resolution for a possible sequel.

Critics and commentators have cited the movie in debates about Hindi Cinema’s Alarming Shift Toward Islamophobia and Hindu Nationalism. The film’s portrayal of cross-border intelligence operations feeds into those wider discussions.

Report compiled for Filmogaz.com.