Dhurandhar Effect! Aneet Padda To Vetrimaaran, Celebs Get Cancelled Over Criticism Of Ranveer Singh Starrer

Dhurandhar: The Revenge has turned out to be the undisputed box office conqueror. In just 10 days of its release, it has done more box office collection than the lifetime biz of several Bollywood hits like Pathaan, Jawan, Animal, Chhaava, Gadar 2 and Stree 2. The movie’s impact has now seeped into the larger Indian cinema landscape, even as online buzz around it continues to ring louder. Many South Indian celebs, including SS Rajamouli, Allu Arjun, Jr NTR and Brahmanandam have praised Dhurandhar and its cast online. They have also lauded how patriotism has been expressed through its narrative.

Some critics have, however, called Dhurandhar a “propaganda film”, while dissecting how major socio-economic and political events as shown in the two movies have been slightly distorted for “driving an agenda”. Prakash Raj also sided with such critics. He also questioned South movie celebs who were praising it online.

Acclaimed Tamil filmmaker Vetrimaaran also made remarks about “propaganda movies” that seemed indirectly aimed at the spy action thriller directed by Aditya Dhar. at the trailer launch of Neelira, Vetrimaaran said, “Today, everything becomes propaganda. Propaganda has the power to influence memory. We all know who was impacted by demonetisation and how many lives were affected while standing in queues. It’s hate propaganda.” Even though Vetrimaaran never spoke about Dhurandhar directly, given its blockbuster success, netizens said that the director was criticising the Hindi film.

Meanwhile, Saiyaara actress Aneet Padda’s sister Reet Padda has sparked a heated online debate after sharing her views on Dhurandhar: The Revenge. She described the film as “propaganda” and drew comparisons with other politically themed films such as The Kerala Story and The Kashmir Files.

Replying to a comment on an Instagram post, Reet wrote, “First, the whole thing about calling films like Kashmir Files, Kerala Files, and Dhurandhar propaganda. For Dhurandhar, it literally serves as a government-friendly narrative, using political speeches to justify, say, the minor hiccup of demonetisation. Call it propaganda? Yep. Deny it? Not a chance. But maybe your definition of propaganda is… different, who knows.” A part of Reet’s post also criticised Priyanka Chopra’s “silence” at the Oscars 2026 stage when her co-presenter Javier Bardem said, “Free Palastine and No War”.  

A section of social media users also called out to “cancel” Aneet over her sister’s view on Dhurandhar.