Imtiaz Ali reveals industry doubted 'Dhurandhar,' called it 'impractical'
What's the story
Acclaimed filmmaker Imtiaz Ali recently praised the box office success of the Dhurandhar franchise at the 24th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. Speaking to Sonal Kalra, he noted how many in Bollywood initially deemed the film impractical and unlikely to succeed. Despite these doubts, Dhurandhar defied expectations and set new benchmarks for Hindi cinema.
Industry introspection
The filmmaker spoke about the impact of 'Dhurandhar'
Ali said, "People are citing Dhurandhar as an example of what is successful but look at the length of that film."
"Forgetting the fact that when Dhurandhar was conceived, and it was doing its run around those studios...people thought that this is the most impractical, a film with the least likelihood of success!"
He added, "But it broke all the rules."
"The language might change, but I feel it's a phase of introspection that the film industry is going through."
Box office success
Box office success of 'Dhurandhar' franchise
The Dhurandhar franchise, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh, has reportedly grossed over ₹3,000 crore globally.
The first film in the series was released in December 2025 and broke box-office records with a domestic net collection of ₹841 crore.
Its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, released in March 2026, went on to become one of Bollywood's biggest hits.
Oscar race
Despite success, 'Dhurandhar' wasn't chosen as India's official Oscars pick
Despite their massive success, neither Dhurandhar nor its sequel made it to India's official entry for the 2027 Oscars.
Jury member Vivek Vaswani revealed that they didn't consider either film an Oscar contender because they felt these films didn't represent Indian culture in a way the jury was looking for.
The Film Federation of India eventually chose Marathi film Gondhal as India's official entry in the Best International Feature Film category.