Puneet Bhawnani

I watched Dhurandhar on the second day of its release. The universal appreciation, the audience support and the box office collections show that it is an amazing movie. But I am not here to talk about its technical quality and its general awesomeness. Many others better than me have done that. And I will not denigrate this movie by comparing it to Pathaan and Jawaan, but I will leave those cinematic perspectives to others. I am here to reflect on why Dhurandhar is a very important movie, not from a cinematic standpoint but in some way, our history. Over the last thousand years, there have been massive changes in the way how people have consumed history. People used to rely on bards telling stories, poetic recollections, passing thru word of mouth etc etc. Then when printing press was invented, it moved to the written medium. Then it was thru photographs and finally due to technological advancement, moving images. And in the last 70 odd years, movies have become a very important source on communicating or learning history. It was thru movies that most of us were convinced that USA WW2. Movies made us believe that certain emperors were benevolent and movies even made us think that a certain star accused of terrorism, was actually the nicest man in the universe, but was caught in a wrong circumstance with an AK 47. Movies play a critical role in shaping perspectives, creating impressions and in some way, tell people the truth in a way they remember. Unfortunately, there has not been a single movie that has clearly highlighted the biggest threat that India has fought and faced over the last 80 years. Pakistan state sponsored terrorism. Until Dhurandhar. The hindi movie industry has dealt with Pakistan in extremes. Either it is the "They are our long lost brothers and all they want is peace and a nice glass of Rooh Af Zaah" type of movies like Main Hoon Na, Pathaan, Tiger etc. Or the hyper nationalistic, ultra jingoistic chest beating type of movies where one guy repels an entire Pakistani army with a non working hand pump. Or keeps running 2 kms in snow and rips out an entire battalion after being shot in the head. There was nothing in between. We have never had a movie which shows Pakistani terrorism in a cold, matter of fact manner that makes us understand its gravity. We have never had a movie, which clearly lays out the extent of the efforts, planning and execution that our neighbours do to destabilize us. We have never had a movie, where the real incidents have been shown in a gripping and an easy to understand manner that made us all realize their actual extent. We have never had a movie which has made people read and discuss about the Pakistani terrorist machine in a dispassionate manner. Dhurandhar does that. It makes us read about how Pakistani army used the underworld to fuel its terror machine. It makes us explore how they tried to weaken the foundations of our economy thru a rain of fake notes. It shows all the terrorist attacks on India in a matter of fact manner that makes us realize terrorism and Pakistani state policy are two sides of the same coin. What it also does brilliantly, is connect the dots. Most of the things shown in the movie existed have been around in the media, on websites, blogs etc for a long time, but nobody connected the dots in such a way that we realize that it all part of one Grand design. It showed us the entire macabre canvas of Pakistani terror. But the real standout moment for me was how they showed the 26/11 attacks. Till date no movie has captured the horror of that day like Dhurandhar did. For many of us, that day was where we felt most vulnerable as Indians. That was the day we realized that anybody could simply waltz in and hit us where we thought we were safe and the govt could do nothing. That attack was done with the express intention to bring us to our knees and I think they almost succeeded. Dhurandhar shows that in a calm, cool and a calculated manner. It doesn't get emotional, it doesn't get carried away and sticks to what actually happened. And this makes it very powerful. Because it makes us introspect. When the other side celebrates the deaths of innocent Indians, it makes us angry. When their leaders calmly direct their indoctrinated minions to continue the bloodbath of innocents, we clench our fists. It reignites the same emotions that we all felt on that fateful day. And in case we didn't get stirred, the showing of actual transcripts on screen ensured we understood the reality and the grisliness of that day. And the cold heartedness of our neighbours That one scene 3D prints and saves the image of the real Pakistan for posterity. It shows the world who they really are. And It makes us resolve, that never again will we tolerate something like this. To sum it up, from a narrative perspective, Pakistanis have gone to great lengths to pretend that they have had nothing to do with terrorism and they are as much victims as we are. They even keep letting loose the same 15 Pakistanis who speak English, to regurgitate those lies Dhurandhar has clearly and factually demolished that narrative. By keeping the movie calm, grounded, realistic and refraining from any jingoism or name calling, Dhurandhar for the first time, showed to the world, the real grisly image of Pakistani state sponsored terrorism. And if left unchecked, can become a threat to the world. It will provoke people to read and understand the reality of Pakistan. Forget the box office numbers and rave reviews, I think this is probably Dhurandhar's biggest success. P:S: Personally, I felt this could have and should have been our Munich, but somewhere I felt it was a little short. But then there is Part 2 to come. Maybe we will get there.