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Not only is the character of the protagonist named Dhurandhar, but the team behind the film, set to release on December 5, also comprises experts par excellence (the meaning of the term).
The trailer launch of the action extravaganza with an espionage base was held at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Center (NMACC) and we got to see stalwarts like producer-writer-director Aditya Dhar, his producer-brother Lokesh Dhar, Jio Studios’ supremo Jyoti Deshpande, title-role player Ranveer Singh, key actors Arjun Rampal and R. Madhavan and character actor Rakesh Bedi and finally view a trailer that was hard-hitting and showed how today’s India dealt with terrorists from across the border.
The Dhar brothers, with just five productions (URI—The Surgical Strike, Article 370, Dhoom Dhaam and Baramulla), are now past masters at providing surpassingly superior entertainment, with URI… also a blockbuster directed by Aditya.
Sanjay Dutt and Akshaye Khanna, who were absent, are also stalwarts and essay powerful negative leads along with Arjun Rampal. Sara Arjun, daughter of character actor Raj Arjun, is a known name in Hindi and the South as a child actor and also leading lady.
Obviously, everyone on stage was raving about everyone else, but some of the remarks struck home. R. Madhavan, who is almost unrecognizable in the film as a balding National Security Advisor (the counterpart of Ajit Doval) said that he was so dazzled by Aditya’s narration and research that he wondered, “Yeh aadmi ab tak kahaan tha yaar (Where was this man before this)?” He recalled his look-test for which they were working for four hours, but they all thought something was missing, and then Aditya suggested, “Let’s make your lips thinner!” And that, said Madhavan, made the necessary difference!
“It was an absolute blessing to be a part of this madness!” raved Sara. “I just want to thank Mukesh (Chhabra, the casting whiz)-sir and Aditya sir for casting me. I have waited for long for this moment and I could only tell my parents to pinch me so that I know this is for real.”
Ranveer Singh declared the film “An insane thriller!” He stated that he was very proud to be a part of the movie “where we are trying to push for something more that will take Indian films to the world and be at par to the best there. I want to be in the center of it. It’s an incredible true story that is engaging, gripping, tense and entertaining. It’s massy without trying to be massy!”
Ranveer termed Rakesh Bedi an “institution who has been in the business for 49 years!” and revealed that he had watched the actor in every medium—stage, screen and TV over the years, and this was the first time he was doing a film with him. Terming Arjun as the “Most good-looking man on earth”, he also called R. Madhavan an absolute genius who is a masterclass in acting. The two actors had earlier praised each other as well as him.
Terming Sara a one-time child prodigy (who was chosen among hundreds of auditioned girls for the role), Ranveer said that her expertise in the film was akin to actresses who have done 50 films already. The actor said that Aditya, who was returning to direction after six years, was absolutely unflinching and uncompromising in his vision and would never settle for something less than what he had dreamt of doing. “I feel extremely blessed!” he declared.
