‘Dhurandhar is a great film’: Javed Akhtar heaps praise on Ranveer Singh actioner, says called Aditya Dhar to congratulate him

Needless to say, Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar has created havoc at the box office. It is equally unsurprising that the film has drawn unanimous praise from across the Hindi film industry. From Ram Gopal Varma and Karan Johar to Aditya Chopra and Anurag Kashyap, there appears to be no major voice left untouched by the impact of the film. Joining this growing list of admirers is veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who recently lauded Dhurandhar and revealed that he was so impressed by the film that he personally reached out to director Aditya Dhar to congratulate him.

In a conversation with Zoom, while praising the film, Javed Akhtar said: “I saw Dhurandhar, it’s a great film, very well made. I found the number of the director and I called him, and congratulated that young man who has made this film. It’s a good film, a very well-made film.” Interestingly, Akhtar has also been making headlines recently for a separate reason. With the release of the war film Border 2 around the corner, the lyricist revealed to India Today that he was approached by the makers to write additional lyrics for the film’s songs, including “Ghar Kab Aaoge” and “Jaate Hue Lamho”.

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However, he declined the offer, calling the trend of adding lyrics to existing popular songs an act of “intellectual and creative bankruptcy.” “They did ask me to write for the film, but I refused. I really feel this is a kind of intellectual and creative bankruptcy. You have an old song, which did well, and you want to put it out again by adding something? Make new songs or else accept that you cannot do the same level of work. Whatever is bygone, let that be. What is the need to recreate it?”

Dhurandhar’s release was followed by Sriram Raghavan’s Ikkis, and the two films were frequently compared on social media. While Ikkis faced criticism for being “too pacifist” in its intent, Dhurandhar was widely lauded for its bold and unflinching take on the state of affairs with Pakistan. Addressing these comparisons and the online trolling faced by Ikkis, writer Pooja Ladha Surti responded in an exclusive conversation with SCREEN. She said, “I wouldn’t want to pit one against the other. Both films are wildly different and inhabit complex worlds. In a democracy, there should be room for both Dhurandhar and Ikkis to coexist.”