Dhurandhar Teases A Gritty Reinvention For Ranveer Singh

Ranveer Singh has entered his brooding, blood-soaked, vengeance era—and it’s about time.

On Sunday afternoon, Ranveer Singh (on his 40th birthday) wiped his Instagram clean, posted a cryptic story that simply read “12:12”, and then, on the dot, dropped the first look for Dhurandhar. And Bollywood fans haven’t calmed down since. With cigarette smoke curling around his thick beard, long hair slicked back in a dimly-lit alley, and a face bloodied just enough to look dangerous—but not disfigured—Ranveer’s return to the big screen feels designed for maximum impact. It’s gritty, theatrical, and yes, a little unhinged. Just the way we like him.

At first glance, Dhurandhar appears to operate in familiar territory for director Aditya Dhar—men on a mission, operatic stakes, bullets over bureaucracy. But while Uri: The Surgical Strike had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, this time around, Dhar seems to be playing in murkier waters. The footage reveals a world where violence is personal, not patriotic. Singh plays a man lying low in a restaurant kitchen, cigarette in hand, blood under fingernails, waiting for something—or someone—to snap him out of hiding. When it comes, he’s ready.

“Ghayal hoon, isiliye ghatak hoon,” he mutters, somewhere between self-mythology and promise.

The Plot (Kind Of) and The Promise

Dhurandhar appears to be cut from a similar cloth as Uri, but with an even darker weave. The 2-minute-40-second trailer (if we can even call it that; it’s more of a fever dream teaser) throws you into a world of hidden identities, back-alley violence, and something about “the unknown men.” Whatever that means, it’s based on true events, as the film loudly reminds you.

The internet, of course, has already decided this is a stylised, fictionalised take on NSA Ajit Doval’s covert ops era—though the filmmakers are saying nothing. Still, Dhar does love a nation-first thriller, so we know something like that is on the menu.

The Stacked Casting

Alongside Singh, who looks like he walked straight out of a punk-rock reboot of Satya, the film ropes in a very intense supporting crew: Akshaye Khanna in a Pathani suit as the lead antagonist (finally) and Sanjay Dutt in his patented rugged look. Meanwhile, Rampal shows up with a gold tooth and weathered face, looking like a man who’s buried more bodies than he can remember. And Madhavan, almost unrecognisable, lends his voice to the narration. Then there’s Sara Arjun, all grown up from her child star days, now positioned opposite Singh in a role that seems equal parts romantic lead and partner-in-crime.

The music, composed by Shashwat with vocals from Jasmine Sandlas and rising rapper Hanumankind, leans into gritty fusion—industrial Punjabi with an undercurrent of dread.

Final Take

So what do we really know about Dhurandhar? Not a whole lot. And that’s by design. The teaser tells you enough to get hyped—guns, blood, swag, ensemble cast—but keeps its cards close on plot. Is it a revenge saga? A covert mission? A meditation on patriotism and pain? We don’t know.

What we do know: It looks raw, ambitious, and like a much-needed jolt of testosterone-fuelled storytelling in an otherwise tentpole-fatigued Bollywood. And Ranveer Singh—finally—seems back in the kind of role where he can chew scenery, growl one-liners, and punch his way through a story.

December 5 can’t come soon enough.