Tigmanshu Dhulia questions Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar: 'Is that a story?’

Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia has questioned whether mainstream Hindi cinema is giving enough space to original storytelling, using Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar as an example of what he sees as a wider shift towards spectacle and familiar commercial formulas.

Speaking at The Wire's event on "The State of Media and Film Industry," Dhulia was careful to distinguish his comments about storytelling from the film's execution. He said he enjoyed the first instalment of Dhurandhar, describing it as "very well presented, very engaging" and praising its "good use of music." His concern, he explained, was more about the simplicity of the underlying plot.

Summing up the film's premise, he said: "There is a man, he is a cover spy, he goes to Pakistan and wreaks havoc there." He then asked: "Is that a story? Stories have disappeared from films."

Dhulia's comments extended beyond Dhurandhar. He pointed to commercial successes including Pushpa, KGF and Dhurandhar, arguing that they share elements of what he described as a "fictional biopic" format.

He linked this tendency to the changing economics of the film industry and what he sees as the influence of corporate thinking on creative decisions. "Because it is a corporate culture, the same kind of films are being made," he said.

According to Dhulia, filmmakers with less conventional ideas can find it difficult to get those projects backed, with concerns over their commercial potential often influencing which stories make it to the screen. "They are not allowed to tell those stories because they think, 'This story won't work.' There is only one template," he said.

He also broadened his argument to what he sees as a growing sameness in popular culture, drawing a comparison between films and the changing character of cities. "Go anywhere, everybody looks the same. Every city has started looking the same. The character of every city has disappeared," he said.

Using his hometown as an example, Dhulia added: "My city, Allahabad, which was once a beautiful city, now looks like any other city. The same malls, the same cars, everything is the same."

Dhurandhar follows Ranveer Singh as an undercover Indian intelligence operative. Written and directed by Aditya Dhar, the two-film franchise also stars Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal and R. Madhavan, among others. It has grossed more than Rs 3,000 crore worldwide, making it one of Bollywood's biggest commercial successes to date.