Imtiaz Ali has thrown a sharp spotlight on one of Hindi cinema’s biggest success stories, saying Dhurandhar was once treated as an impossible bet by the very industry that is now celebrating it. Speaking at HT Leadership Summit 2026, the filmmaker pointed to the franchise while pushing back against the idea that audiences no longer have the patience for long films.
Ali said, “People are saying that attention span is missing in the audience, but the films which are doing well are three hours long. ‘Nothing long is working.’ People are citing Dhurandhar as an example of what is successful, but look at the length of that film.”
Imtiaz Ali Recalls Early Doubts Around Dhurandhar
What makes Ali’s remark sting is the contrast he drew between present-day praise and the film’s rough journey at the pitching stage. According to him, Dhurandhar did not arrive as an obvious studio favourite. It was seen as a risky idea with little commercial certainty.
He said, “Forgetting the fact that when Dhurandhar was actually conceived, and it was doing its run around those studios, people thought that this was the most impractical, a film with the least likelihood of success.”
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Ali then summed up the turnaround in one line that captures the business mood around blockbusters. “But it broke all the rules, and after that everybody wants to make that. All of us are thinking about what will work. The language might change, but I feel it’s a phase of introspection that the film industry is going through.”
How The Franchise Changed The Conversation
Written and directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar released in December 2025, with sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge following in March 2026. The spy action films starred Ranveer Singh in the lead, with Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Rakesh Bedi and Sara Arjun featuring across the franchise.
The films leaned into scale rather than restraint. The first part ran 3 hours and 34 minutes, while the sequel stretched to 3 hours and 49 minutes. Instead of hurting the films, that length became part of the larger debate Ali addressed, especially as both chapters turned into massive theatrical winners and pushed the franchise past the Rs 3200 crore mark worldwide.
Ranveer Singh’s Recent And Upcoming Work
For Ranveer Singh, the Dhurandhar duology marked a major commercial high point in a career that had been waiting for a fresh box office surge. Within the past 48 months, his confirmed releases include Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani in 2023, where he starred opposite Alia Bhatt in Karan Johar’s romantic drama, followed by Dhurandhar in 2025 and Dhurandhar: The Revenge in 2026.
His next confirmed film is Pralay, which is currently listed for 2027. That places Singh in a strong transition phase, with the success of Dhurandhar restoring his theatrical momentum and reinforcing his place in large-scale event cinema.
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