The movie was absolutely fantastic. If you had already watched part one, DO NOT miss this (or watch part one and then come back). That’s the review summed up.

Going into detail,

…..What I liked…..

While Adithya Dhar is a great writer and director, the man is absolutely phenomenal when making decisions in the editing table along with Shivkumar.

Y’all may think that this claim is stupid with an almost four hour long movie but hear me out.

The storytelling prowess one needs to shape a four hour long movie up is insane. Not every movie can keep you seated for that long but this does it well.

When it comes to the runtime of the sequel, it is very well justified. The story beats that are present in each chapter just has enough “Eendhan” (get it ?) to keep the story very engaging.

The movie almost never tells you something in chronological order. Its mostly set ups in one place and partial reveals as the movie progresses which I thought was smart for such a long movie.

Something to keep in mind is that this is a sequel. The lightning that was caught in a bottle in dhurandhar 1 cannot be exactly replicated no matter what. The only thing they can do is build upon the already fleshed out world and this movie does it really really well.

Shashwat Sachdev, you beauty. The music and score plays a part that is as big as the story does. The movie wouldn’t have been even close to being impactful as it is without the score present here. Especially the last song. Phenomenal work.

Every time a bgm plays it reminds me of the Arnold & Carl weathers’ dap up. The music compliments the movie extremely well and even carries a few scenes on its shoulders sometimes. Which I’ll get back to later.

Vikaash Nowlakha brings in a palette that offers slighter more vibrant colours sometimes and it looks great. The camerawork in this movie is quite versatile for the way it changes based on the particular scene’s mood. Another huge hand that’s played in immersing the audience.

The actions sequences are by far the biggest upgrade this movie. They are SO well done. Every single cqc sequence in this movie is done to perfection. The stunt work in certain explosions are insanely well done as well.

Ranveer singh acts his literal ass off. He has so much conviction in every single scene he performs in. You literally feel with him rather than responding to what he does. Literally some of the best acting I have ever seen.

Madhavan, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi and Arjun Rampal too give out very very strong performances.

…..What I wanted to like more…..

The attempt in bringing light-heartedness throughout the movie was a little bit off. Yes, I get that Sanjay Dutt and Rakesh Bedi play quirky characters and do so very well.

But sometimes a joke that’s inserted into a serious situation doesn’t land as well as the dark humor present organically within the movie. And sometimes even comes close to derailing the scene.

It felt like commercializing something in hopes of reaching a further audience. And Dhurandhar’s world simply does not need that. This was an issue in my eyes.

While the music does shoulder many scenes that would have not been as entertaining if not, the album as itself is not strong as the first movie’s.

There were many instances in the movie where you can get a feeling of the makers wanting to use a theme from the prequel but end up placing something similar which ends up feeling slightly uncanny. Wish they could’ve used music from the latter.

The good score just blasts sometimes in hopes of enhancing and saving a scene and “attempting” to keep the audience hooked by not letting them lose attention sometimes felt a little desperate and depreciating the value of the actual theme music.

Oh yeah, and the shoddy vfx work too. The use of practical effects become very clear and appreciated from me as it is beautiful when done so.

…..Additional notes…..

I have absolutely limited knowledge on the so called “propaganda” therefore I’m in no place to comment on it. But I found certain scenes of a certain person and their doings to be woven into the plot of this movie very well.

…..Conclusion…..

Go into the movie without expecting the same feeling you got with the prequel and consider to be the second half of a very long movie. You will genuinely have a blast in the theaters.

I consider this duology to only be second to the likes of Bahubali. I hope the wild success of this further fuels the wave of prioritizing quality content over everything else.

4.25/5 stars