By Piyush M Padwale
Bollywood’s most recent blockbuster, Dhurandhar, released on Netflix on Friday, January 30 2026, and has quickly managed to take the #1 spot on Netflix in Pakistan, despite it never being released there due to an alleged ban on the film. The movie also swiftly rose to the top of Netflix India after its OTT premiere.
Since the film’s release on Netflix in Pakistan, social media buzz in the country has centred on the research and storytelling , as well as its avoidance of stereotyping. Pakistani viewers have also expressed that the representation of Pakistan in the series through Lyari was quite interesting and engaging.
Reportedly, since 2019, Indian films have been officially banned in Pakistani theatres. Consequently, Dhurandhar was also banned for a theatrical release there, due to its subject matter. Even before the OTT launch, the movie was illegally downloaded over 2 million times in Pakistan via piracy, expressing high viewer interest in the film despite the ban.
The audience in India has retained a split reaction towards the movie, with some people appreciating it and others labeling it as too violent or containing propaganda. Despite the mixed response to the film, Dhurandhar has had immense success at the box office with a gross collection of approximately ₹1,054.37 crores in India and ₹293.03 crores in foreign countries, with a worldwide box office collection of ₹1,347.40 crores, which marks the development of the film on the international platform.
Dhurandhar is a spy thriller film that combines fiction with reality. Apart from Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, the film is directed by Aditya Dhar and also stars actors such as Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sara Arjun, and many more.
The sequel to Dhurandhar is in the works with a scheduled release date of March 19, 2026, leaving many fans and movie buffs waiting for its release, who are eager to experience this again on the big screen with the hopes of a new story, new characters, and a whole new twist.
There have also been a few discussions surrounding the digital print quality on Netflix, which allegedly has made a few cuts and censored certain parts. This has been an ongoing debate over the content being trimmed, which looks different from its theatrical version.