‘Dhurandhar, Animal and KGF dwarf films that release after them’: Sanjay Gupta

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta has showered praise on Dhurandhar, which has been directed by Aditya Dhar. The film stars Ranveer Singh in the lead.

Updated on: Dec 20, 2025, 16:47:22 IST

By Santanu Das

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Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar has been wreaking havoc at the box office. The spy thriller directed by Aditya Dhar was released in theatres on December 5. Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, who has earlier shared a glowing review for the film on his X account, has now opined that films like Dhurandhar, Animal and KGF ‘set new benchmarks’ for the film industry.

Ranveer Singh in Dhurandhar, Ranbir Kapoor in Animal and Yash in KGF.

What Sanjay Gupta said

Taking to his X account, Sanjay said, “The thing about films like ANIMAL, KGF & DHURANDHAR is that they set new benchmarks and films that were being made with them but release after get dwarfed.”

Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead, was released in 2023. The Sandeep Reddy Vanga film was a blockbuster at the box office, and propelled massive debate over its portrayal of toxic masculinity, violence and misogyny. A sequel, titled Animal Park, has been announced.

Elsewhere, KGF, which starred Yash in the lead, was a breakthrough for Kannada cinema. The Prashanth Neel directorial set records at the box office and emerged as one of the highest-grossing films. Part 1 was released in 2018, while Part 2 arrived in 2022.

More details

Sanjay Gupta had previously shared his review of Dhurandhar. He wrote, “Just thinking about #Dhurandhar and one thing I can't get out of my head is the casting of each and every character. IMPECCABLE. SPECTACULAR. @CastingChhabra. Mukesh Chhabra deserves all the love and some serious respect. Best casting in an Indian film ever I feel.”

He also wrote, “I finally watched #DHURANDHAR and thoroughly enjoyed it. For me it was a ONE MAN SHOW all the way and that man is @AdityaDharFilms. I'm not interested in all the propaganda bu******. I had super fun watching it in IMAX especially the music. WELL DONE & CONGRATULATIONS to the entire team.”

Dhurandhar is a spy thriller set in Pakistan, in which Ranveer plays an Indian spy infiltrating the terror networks based in Lyari. It also stars Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, and R Madhavan in pivotal roles. The film has already crossed ₹500 crore in India in three weeks of release.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Santanu Das
Santanu Das is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with over 5 years of experience, writing on films, pop culture and film festivals. He has a keen interest in writing about South Asian independent films and has covered several film festivals, including Sundance and CPH: Docx. He also brings a sharp perspective to the monthly column called The Fault in Our Stars, where he writes about a recent film/series and what stops the ‘good’ from becoming ‘great’. A gold medalist from Banaras Hindu University, Santanu completed his postgraduate studies in English from Jadavpur University. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes-certified film critic. When not watching films or speaking to celebrities, Santanu can be found reading a book. Some of his favourite films are Aparajito, Ponyo and The Double Life of Veronique. His favourite books include The Corrections, The God of Small Things and A Room of One's Own. Santanu continues to write passionately about films and celebrity culture. He brings a relatable, as well as critically informed, lens to entertainment and culture for a wide audience. Find him on LinkedIn: santanudasfilm Instagram: @santupechaRead More

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