Dhurandhar franchise re-writes film template as makers revise, review upcoming and existing films

Mumbai: The pronounced and indisputable success of Dhurandhar franchise (original film’s worldwide collection: Rs1307.3 crore and sequel’s worldwide collection: Rs1006.5 crore, eight days) has set a new benchmark in filmmaking in in the Hindi film industry, triggering fresh discussions about revising, reviewing and doing away with old and verbose templates of filmmaking and focusing more on depth and authenticity than stardom, said producers, editors, trade analysts and distributors to ET.

“The Dhurandhar franchise is not a project put together by funding people. It is a triumph of a firm conviction and uncompromising intent of a director in achieving his personal creative vision. It has made mass cinema into event cinema and proved indisputably the importance of a director,” explained producer Rajesh R Nair. “In recent years, a director’s role has been relegated to mere executor of scenes. This explains the intent of the makers. But the Dhurandhar franchise clearly scores well on intent as it breaks most established conventions of filmmaking,” he added.

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Among the various departments, the film’s editing has set a new benchmark, shared editors.

“After a long time, I have seen a film where a film’s editing is so clean. There are no loose ends. Necessary shots are preferred to good shots,” said Vaibhav Desai, a veteran editor. “Using quick-cut transitions, events unfold rather than characters discussing how those events will unfold. This makes almost every scene engaging and pacy. So, the audience does not feel the film’s length,” he added.

Editors cite the quick-cut transition used in the beginning of Dhurandhar: The Revenge. The audience is not shown why Ranveer Singh’s character needs an AK47 assault rifle, they pointed out.

The film’s bold and innovative use of music has also been lauded by distributors.

“This may be perhaps the first mainstream Hindi film where a director has been so bold in the use of music including background. So many times, the music used is so contrasting and incongruous to the sentiment and mood of a scene,” noted distributor Shaaminder Malik. “For instance, the use of the song Hum Pyaar Karne Waaley from the film Dil in the scene where Ranveer Singh’s character is abducted and produced before senior intelligence officers may seem risky. But it is the director’s conviction. Also, the use of original and vintage music has connected multi-generational viewers,” he added.

Even the film’s storytelling structure has been appreciated by producers.

“The chapter-based narrative structure in the Dhurandhar franchise enhances its engagement and recall. This aids the film’s pacing. Also, it is in line with global viewing sensibilities of episodic storytelling,” explained Suniel Wadhwa, co-founder & director, Karmic Films.

Also Read: Meet real-life ‘Dhurandhar’ Ravindra Kaushik: How the legendary ‘spy’ became Pakistan Army Major but faced a tragic end

Producers also acknowledged the depth in the film’s writing and clever use of contemporary history which matches the popular narrative.

“In the Dhurandhar franchise, even fictitious characters look real. There is authenticity in the presentation. There is also brilliant use of contemporary history to build a wonderful narrative of India’s resurgence in the films, which is lapped up by audiences,” shared producer Naveen Chandra.

Lastly, the film has also set a new benchmark in seamlessly blending genres without any special track for any one genre, observed producers.

“There are five genres in the Dhurandhar franchise: romance, patriotism, gangster, suspense and thriller. They blend seamlessly well without any genre overpowering This is an exception especially in Hindi films,” observed producer Ameya Naik.