Dhurandhar’s Aditya Dhar reacts to film’s criticism, claims of corporate booking
Aditya Dhar again shared a note defending Dhurandhar’s historic box office performance, calling its success completely organic. The note took a veiled dig at a ‘video maker’ critic while dismissing claims of corporate booking.
Aditya Dhar posted a note in his Instagram Stories informing that his film stalwart History is being rewritten for cinema, both commercially and critically. The post also took a dig at a critic who criticized the film and referred to him as “a video maker who got swept up in the wave of criticism against himself”. Although no one was named in the note, it appeared to be an indirect dig at comedian Dhruv Rathee who made the accusation stalwart Presenting fiction as “gospel truth”.
This note received the support of Dhar stalwart Crossed the benchmark of earning Rs 900 crore at the global box office, especially setting new standards for Hindi cinema this year. Directors who first rose to fame Uri: The Surgical Strikeshared the note which also criticized those claiming that the film’s business was supported by heavy corporate bookings. The note reads, “The best thing about Dhurandhar’s box office success is that it is organic. All those who cried ‘corporate booking’ in the week of its release have now suddenly gone silent.”
The full note shared by Dhar in his stories reads: “History is being rewritten in Indian cinema. By men and women who have fire in their hearts and love for their country. They wanted to tell a story to the people of their country. The best part of Dhurandhar’s box office success is that it is organic. All those who cried ‘corporate booking’ in the week of release have now suddenly fallen silent.”
It further added, “A video producer recently tried to criticize it and was swept away in the wave of criticism against him. Dhurandhar is a craze today. A tsunami that will sweep away any other release that comes in its path. A tsunami that will hit in 2026. It’s not going to stop any time soon.”
Dhar again shared another story praising the collective effort behind the film. The note mentioned, “Tsunami was created by a young director from Delhi, Aditya Dhar and his team of actors and technicians. All were united in vision and approach, passionate about storytelling and extremely confident in this director’s work.”
Although the filmmaker did not comment directly on the messages, his decision to re-share them with a folded hands emoji was seen by some as a subtle response to critics.
Earlier, YouTuber Dhruv Rathi emphasized on the film, It is described thus: “Well done propaganda is more dangerous. Films like The Taj Story and The Bengal Films were not dangerous, because those were stupid movies (Because they were bad movies). But Dhurandhar is a fascinating film.” He expressed concern over how the film presented its subject matter, particularly in relation to its claim to depict actual events.
Rathi highlighted the use of real-life references in the film and said, “It shows real footage of the 26/11 attacks. Real audio recordings of conversations between terrorists and their handlers have been used. It also uses real-life gangsters and police based in Lyari, Pakistan.” He accused the filmmakers of mixing fact with fiction and presenting it as “divine truth”.
Later many celebrities from the film industry reviewed stalwartAnd praised Dhar for strong storytelling. Actor Hrithik Roshan offered a nuanced review, adding his voice to the conversation: “I love cinema, I love people who get sucked into a whirlpool and take control of the stories, twisting them, shaking them until what they want to say comes out on the screen. Dhurandhar is an example of that. Loved telling a story. That’s cinema. I can disagree with the politics of it, and argue about the responsibilities that filmmakers have as citizens of the world.” Still, it can’t be ignored how much I loved it as a student of cinema and how much I learned from it.”
film producer Ram Gopal Varma called it a “quantum leap”. While Smriti Irani mentioned its story An “echo of a life lived and loved.” Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga reviewed the film and said it “has a manly backbone”, actor Akshay Kumar said he was “shocked” by the film. Preity Zinta, Vicky Kaushal, Karan Johar, Shraddha Kapoor and Deepika Padukone also shared social media notes to express their appreciation for Dhar’s approach. stalwart,
During this time, stalwart has crossed Kantara: Chapter 1, shade As the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025, with significant collections from overseas markets as well. The second part of the film is going to be released on March 19. The cast of the film includes Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Khanna, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Rakesh Bedi, Saumya Tandon, Danish Pandor and Sara Arjun.
