HT Leadership Summit 2026: Imtiaz Ali hails Dhurandhar, says many in Bollywood called it an impractical film, least likely to succeed

Dhurandhar starred Ranveer Singh in the lead role and released in theatres last year in December. It went on to become a blockbuster.

Writer-director Imtiaz Ali was one the speakers on the 24th edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2026, where he spoke at length about the changing landscape of the Hindi film industry. The filmmaker, whose last release Main Vaapas Aaunga went on to become a surprise hit at the box office, picked the example of Dhurandhar and praised the film's daring to break many rules.

Imtiaz Ali spoke about Dhurandhar at the Hindustan Times Leader Summit.

What Imtiaz said

During his conversation with Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor, Entertainment and Lifestyle, Hindustan Times at the 24th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Imtiaz said, “I feel something very interesting is happening in the film industry. We are in that delicious phase where people are saying that nothing is working. Should we go with the big star, non-star… what is going to work? 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!”

He added, “Forgetting the fact that when Dhurandhar was actually 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! But it broke all the rules and after that everybody wants to make that. All of us are thinking what will work. The language might change but I feel its a phase of introspection that the film industry is going through.”

Aditya Dhar's two Dhurandhar films have grossed over ₹3000 crore at the box office. Released in December, the first Dhurandhar film, starring Ranveer Singh, was a critical and commercial success. It collected a then-record ₹841 crore net in India, and courtesy of a $33 million overseas haul, crossed ₹1300 crore gross worldwide. After a rather long run in theatres that lasted over 14 weeks, Dhurandhar ended its run at ₹1308 crore.

The sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, arrived in March and shattered every Bollywood box-office record. The film became the first from Hindi cinema to net ₹100 crore in a single day, a feat it achieved three times during its opening weekend. It sailed past ₹1000 crore in a week and soon surpassed its predecessor. As of April 16, Dhurandhar 2 has earned just over ₹1025 crore net in India and ₹1720 crore worldwide. The makers claim the worldwide gross exceeds ₹1760 crore. Either way, the Dhurandhar franchise has crossed ₹3000 crore worldwide, with the upper estimate at ₹3110 crore for the two films.

All about Dhurandhar

Written and directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar is a spy thriller starring Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy infiltrating the gangs and terror networks of Pakistan. The films also star R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun. The first part was critically acclaimed, while the second received more lukewarm reviews. However, both are the two highest-grossing Hindi films in India.