Dhurandhar director Aditya Dhar says he finally feels like he has succeeded after receiving lavish praise from RGV
Aditya Dhar’s emotional response to Ram Gopal Varma’s scathing review led to a rare filmmaker-to-filmmaker exchange on the influence, originality and evolving language of Indian cinema.
Ram Gopal Varma’s clarification almost manifesto-like review of stalwart did more than make the film a cinematic milestone. It elicited an unusually intimate and emotional response from its director, Aditya Dhar. What followed was a rare public exchange between two filmmakers of different generations, marked by a shared belief in cinema as an emerging force.
Soon after, Verma announced stalwart “A quantum leap in Indian cinema” Dhar wrote an extremely personal note addressed only to “Sir” in the comments section. For Dhar, Varma’s words reopened a chapter that had shaped his journey in filmmaking.
Dhar wrote, “If this tweet was a movie, I would have gone to watch it on the first day, first show, changed my clothes and came out.” Showing how deeply the review affected him. He recalled coming to Mumbai years ago with “a suitcase, a dream” and a singular ambition: to work under Ram Gopal Varma, better known as RGV. Dhar admitted that that opportunity never came, but Varma’s cinema nevertheless became a formative influence. He confessed, “Somewhere, without knowing it, I worked in your cinema.”
Dhar’s acknowledgment of his creative lineage came through so openly. Calling Verma’s praise “surreal, emotional and honestly a little unfair”, the 42-year-old joked that whatever he does now will have to live up to the high benchmark set by the review. In a gesture of gratitude, he credited Varma for making Indian cinema feel “fearless, rugged and alive”, and said that if stalwart “A trace” of that DNA is also present, this is because Varma’s films “whispered in my mind – sometimes shouted” during the process of writing and directing.
Dhar concluded, “The fan in me is overwhelmed. The filmmaker in me feels challenged. And the boy who came to Mumbai to work under RGV finally feels seen.”
Verma, who is known for his candor as well as his vision, did not let the conversation end there. In a thoughtful reply, he acknowledged Dhar’s note and described the relationship not as one of influence, but of development. “This is why cinema moves forward,” Varma wrote, arguing that true evolution occurs when one filmmaker inspires another to move forward.
strongly rejected Dhar’s suggestion that stalwart Working within his cinematic grammar, Varma politely said, “You didn’t work inside my cinema. You went beyond it. And that’s the way it should be.”
The 63-year-old also dismissed the pressure of living up to accolades and emphasized what really excited him stalwart There was restlessness about it. He praised the film’s refusal to seek validation or permission, writing, “I can clearly see your own uneasiness in your film and that’s what will haunt people about you for a long time.”
Closing the exchange on a cinematic note Rangeela And Truth The director summarized Dhar’s point with characteristic flair: “If the boy who came to Mumbai becomes a man UriHe has become a superman now stalwartKeep flying,”
stalwartMeanwhile, there is doing great at the box officeIt has inched closer to the Rs 500 crore nett benchmark in India, and is eyeing to enter the coveted Rs 1,000 crore club globally – setting a remarkable new benchmark for Indian cinema, The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Khanna, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Ranveer Singh, Rakesh Bedi, Danish Pandor, Saumya Tandon and Sara Arjun and other actors in important roles,
It released on screens on December 5, while the sequel is scheduled to release on March 19, 2026.
