Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar recap: Everything you need to know about Ranveer Singh’s brutal rise as the ISI’s worst nightmare before Dhurandhar: The Revenge
Dhurandhar: The Revenge follows Ranveer Singh's rise to "King of Lyari" to dismantle ISI networks. This 2026 sequel depicts his transformation from a deep-cover informant into a deadly assassin.
Last Updated: 12.52 PM, Mar 17, 2026
Dhurandhar: Revenge is the sequel to Aditya Dhar's 2025 espionage thriller, and as the Indian box office gets ready for its March 19 release, viewers are going back to the intricate storyline of the first film. By fusing a grim, fictionalised narrative of deep-cover operations with real geopolitical events, Dhurandhar revolutionised the Indian spy thriller upon its release on December 5, 2025.
Who is the mastermind behind "Operation Dhurandhar" and what triggered the mission?
Many have drawn parallels between the figure of Ajay Sanyal (R. Madhavan), director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and actual security advisors in the 2025 film. As a long-term plan to destroy terror networks from within Pakistani territory, Sanyal launches "Operation Dhurandhar" after the 1999 IC-814 hijacking and the 2001 Parliament attack.
Ranveer Singh enlists Jaskirat Singh Rangi, a man on death row, for this suicide operation. He crosses into Pakistan from Afghanistan and takes the identity of a Baloch local, Hamza Ali Mazari. His multi-year infiltration of Lyari, a dangerous Karachi suburb ruled by government corruption and gang warfare, is the subject of the first film.
Which key figures and alliances defined Hamza's rise within the Lyari underworld?
Rehman Dakait, played by Akshaye Khanna, is a Baloch leader who wants to be a major political force, and Hamza manages to incorporate him into his crime organization. Along with his handler, Mohammed Aalam (Gaurav Gera), an owner of a nearby juice shop, Hamza deftly negotiates the ever-changing alliances between the Lyari gangs and the Pakistan Awami Party, headed by Jameel Jamali (Rakesh Bedi).
The moral decline that Hamza experienced was a major plot point in the original film. He later married Jamali's daughter Yalina (Sara Arjun) and continued to participate in violent gang operations to keep his cover. His main enemy turned out to be Major Iqbal (Arjun Rampal), an operative of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) who used the Lyari syndicates to smuggle counterfeit money and weapons into India. The rival Pathan gangs weren't his only enemy.
How did the 26/11 Mumbai attacks serve as Dhurandhar's most emotionally taxing turning point?
The attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were the narrative's most emotionally taxing moments. The operation was moved from October to November, catching Indian officials unaware, despite Hamza providing intelligence about a planned marine strike. Hamza witnessed the attacks with jubilant Pakistani officials and militants, a terrifying turn of events.
This ordeal prompted Hamza to take his last action. He plotted Rehman Dakait's death by uniting corrupt police officer Chaudhary Aslam (Sanjay Dutt) with politician and his father-in-law Jameel Jamali. Rehman was killed in the film's climactic scene, which involved a high-speed ambush and a violent fight. As he quietly consolidated authority for the next stage of his plan, Hamza pretended to be grieving in order to become the new "King of Lyari" and gain public support.
What does Dhurandhar: The Revenge promise regarding Jaskirat’s transformation and his next targets?
After the credits rolled in the 2025 film, we saw Hamza cross out Rehman's name from a hidden diary. The next victim to come to light was Major Iqbal. Dhurandhar: The Revenge, a large 235-minute film, will cover Jaskirat's transformation from an informant to a strategic assassin. Rumour has it that the upcoming sequel will explore Jaskirat's history before the mission and his showdown with the ISI's upper management.
Already showing record-breaking advance bookings, the sequel will attempt to wrap up the trilogy by revisiting the "New India" concept that was revealed in the latter moments of the first film.