Shobhaa De calls Akshaye Khanna’s Dhurandhar hype ‘manipulative’; says ‘nobody asked Hrithik’ for his political stance

Recalling the meeting, she added, “My husband and I have known him since he entered films. I didn’t want to interrupt him, but he is a very well-mannered young man and joined our table briefly. He spoke about the project without revealing the title, but mentioned he needed to gain around 15 kilos and grow out his hair and beard. He was completely immersed in the preparation. At that time, he was only prepping for Dhurandhar.”

Shobhaa said she initially watched the film to witness Ranveer’s physical transformation. However, she was struck by its larger narrative. “More than anything else, I felt this was an important film because it didn’t follow the typical spy-universe fantasy route. It wasn’t a local James Bond. It was a filmmaker telling significant stories that the younger generation might not know about — like Kandahar and the Mumbai terror attacks.”

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Shobhaa praises Aditya Dhar

Praising director Aditya Dhar, she said, “Taking contemporary history and crafting a narrative for today’s generation around a larger-than-life undercover agent — who I believe did exist — is ambitious. The scale was massive. It also explored Lyari and the underworld of that era, drawing several parallels. From that perspective, I think it is very powerful filmmaking. I related to this more than Pathaan. That one felt like entertainment — with glamorous counter-spies trying to woo the hero. That’s not how reality works.”

She also dismissed claims that labelled the film as propaganda. “Then came the political narrative — is this a right-wing financed film? Is Aditya Dhar recruiting people to his viewpoint? No filmmaker in the world is neutral or apolitical. Everything expressed in the public domain is political. To attribute motives like that is childish.”

Shobhaa calls hype around Akshaye’s performance manipulative

Addressing the praise surrounding Akshaye Khanna’s performance, she remarked, “Another manipulative aspect was creating the impression that Akshaye is the bigger star and that he alone stood out — even crediting his dance as the highlight.”

Shobhaa further highlighted the film’s reception across borders. “What’s interesting is how Pakistan responded to it. It is the most downloaded Bollywood film in Pakistan’s history. Not a single podcast expressed anger — instead, there was regret about not having made a film like this in Pakistan when they had such characters and narratives.”

‘Nobody asked Hrithik’

She also referenced reactions from within the industry, noting, “Nobody asked Hrithik Roshan whether he agreed with the politics of the film. He could have simply said he liked it — but he chose to go further. The choreography, the use of music, and the casting in Dhurandhar are all brilliant.”

Released worldwide on December 5 — barring Gulf countries — Dhurandhar went on to earn over Rs 1,300 crore at the global box office, cementing its status as a blockbuster.

Dhurandhar 2 is scheduled to clash with Yash-starrer Toxic over the Eid weekend, setting up a high-stakes box office clash.