3 min readHyderabadApr 9, 2026 09:16 PM IST
Every spy film that comes out in India right now is going to be measured against Dhurandhar. Manu Anand knows that, and he is not trying to dodge it.
At the trailer launch of Mr X, the director addressed the comparison directly and with a certain degree of confidence. He acknowledged that similarities exist between his film and Aditya Dhar’s blockbuster franchise, but was careful to draw a line between the two.
“I’m not saying that we’ve made a Dhurandhar. Mr X is not Dhurandhar. I don’t want people to compare it to the film. But there are similarities. When you watch the film, you’ll know what it is,” he said.
Dhurandhar, the first film in the franchise, released in December 2025 and grossed approximately Rs 1,300 crore worldwide, setting a benchmark that has since reshaped how audiences view spy actioners in India. For any director working in this space today, that shadow looms large. Manu Anand’s decision to acknowledge it, rather than ignore it, suggests he isn’t stepping in blindly.
What he is walking in with, however, is a claim that deserves attention on its own terms. Mr X, he said at the launch, is not a work of imagination dressed up as realism. The film is based on seven real incidents that took place between 1965 and 2007. To put that timeline in perspective, those four decades span some of the most sensitive and consequential chapters in Indian intelligence history, from the wars of the 1960s through to the years just before the 26/11 attacks.
Watch the trailer of Mr X:
For research, Manu Anand spoke to two intelligence officers. He did not reveal their names at the launch and made clear he never could. “I unfortunately cannot reveal their names. I cannot even put their names in the thank you card,” he said. The line landed quietly but said a great deal about the kind of film he is trying to make.
Mr X marks Manu Anand’s second directorial venture, following the success of his 2022 film FIR, which starred Vishnu Vishal. This is a considerably bigger canvas. The film features Arya, Gautham Karthik, Sarath Kumar and Manju Warrier in pivotal roles.
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Production took place over more than 100 days across multiple locations in India, including Rajasthan, Hosur, Chennai, Mysore and Tuticorin. The team had initially explored Uganda as an international filming location but ultimately chose Azerbaijan for those sequences. The film faced multiple delays before finally locking its release date. It is now set to release on April 17.
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The narrative revolves around secret agents dealing with a high-stakes mission involving a missing nuclear device. Against the backdrop of seven real incidents spanning over four decades, that premise carries a different weight than most spy thrillers tend to. Manu Anand seems to be betting that the authenticity of the sourcing will do what spectacle alone cannot.
Arya in Mr X, the spy thriller directed by Manu Anand.