Ranveer Singh’s spy thriller “Durandhar,” about an undercover Indian agent who infiltrates Karachi’s criminal underworld, ranks No. 1 on Netflix’s list of the world’s top 10 non-English films, and No. 1 in both India and Pakistan, a streaming achievement that dives squarely into the region’s long-frozen theatrical politics.
On Netflix’s Tudum weekly chart (January 26-February 1), “Dhurandhar” was viewed 7.6 million times, ranking it No. 1 among non-English films worldwide. This chart shows that the movie is at number 1 in India and number 1 in Pakistan on Netflix’s top 10 movies list. The title has also been popular across South Asia, reaching at or near the top of the charts in markets such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, reinforcing the film’s regional appeal beyond its home base.
The result for Pakistan will be an extra charge as Indian films have been barred from Pakistani cinemas for years, a situation that has intensified in recent years as both countries have moved to block theatrical releases of each other’s films amid renewed tensions between the two countries. In other words, films designed around India’s intelligence footprint inside Pakistan (the kind of premise that usually dies when it arrives across the border in theaters) are now reaching Pakistani audiences at scale through Netflix’s smooth pipeline.
And it’s not just South Asia. The film has also charted well in some parts of the Middle East, but political sensitivities in India and Pakistan can make theatrical release of this kind of material complicated and commercially risky, leaving streaming as a cleaner route for audiences in regions with large foreign populations.
It was directed by Aditya Dhar and produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios. Singh will lead the cast, with Akshaye Khanna playing the role of the antagonist. The cast also includes Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Manav Gohil, Denmark Pandor, Saumya Tandon, Gaurav Gera and Naveen Kaushik.
‘Dhulandar’ is told in two parts, with the first part following a decade-long Indian intelligence operation in which an undercover agent (Singh) infiltrates Karachi’s criminal and political underworld. Durandal: The Revenge, which hits theaters on March 19th, is expected to continue the story and provide a backstory for Shin’s character.
The first part of this story became India’s highest-grossing Hindi film. It raised $116 million domestically and $32 million overseas.
India and Pakistan have fought four wars since partition in 1947, in 1947-1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999, and the territory of Kashmir remains a central flashpoint in a relationship marked by military confrontations, diplomatic breakdowns and periodic escalations.
