Why Dhurandhar’s bold casting choices helped power its ₹250 crore box office run, Mukesh Chhabra explains

Aditya Dhar’s espionage thriller Dhurandhar has struck a chord with audiences not just for its scale and political intrigue, but for its casting choices, which deliberately placed familiar faces in unfamiliar territory.

Mukesh Chhabra on Dhurandhar’s casting

Casting director Mukesh Chhabra has now said the intention from day one was to subvert expectations and make every character feel like a surprise.

Released on 5 December, Dhurandhar traces covert intelligence missions against the backdrop of real-life geopolitical and terror flashpoints, including the Kandahar hijacking, the 2001 Parliament attack and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The film has emerged as a major box-office success, earning over ₹250 crore domestically within first week of release.

“I always think about how to surprise people, and how to make casting look more interesting, funny and fresh. With this film, I wanted to do that. People were expecting twists in this film, and therefore, I wanted to twist things with the casting. Every person should feel that it is a well thought out thing and that we have not casted someone randomly,” Chhabra told PTI.

Audiences and critics alike have praised Ranveer Singh’s turn as undercover operative Hamza Ali Mazari, alongside a heavyweight supporting cast featuring R Madhavan as Indian spymaster Ajay Sanyal, Sanjay Dutt as SP Chaudhary Aslam, Akshaye Khanna as real-life gangster Rehman Dakait, and Arjun Rampal as ISI Major Iqbal, a character allegedly inspired by Ilyas Kashmiri.

Also Read | How Akshaye Khanna’s Dhurandhar mirrors Lyari don Rehman Dakait’s violent legacy

“I always think about how to surprise people, and how to make casting look more interesting, funny and fresh. With this film, I wanted to do that. People were expecting twists in this film, and therefore, I wanted to twist things with the casting. Every person should feel that it is a well thought out thing and that we have not casted someone randomly,” Chhabra told PTI.

He said the casting process involved long and often intense discussions with director Aditya Dhar. “With each and every casting, we literally spent so much time on thinking whether Arjun, Madhavan, Sanju baba or Akshaye would be correct or not. Every day, me and Aditya would sit for two to four hours, bouncing names, fighting, discussing, ‘It (actor) might work, not work, let’s surprise people, let’s go extra, and push ourselves’. Earlier, we had some other names of (actors), we had OTT faces (actors), then we thought of making it (film) bigger.”

Chhabra stressed that patience played a key role in shaping the ensemble. “You can do a good casting only when you take more time to think rather than approaching immediately,” he said.

That approach extended to the film’s supporting characters as well. “We did a lot of auditions for the role of Donga and Aalam and that’s why the process takes 1-1.5 years because you’ve had to see how the performance will turn out, and how it can surprise people,” Chhabra added.

He also revealed that Sunil Grover was considered for the role of Aalam before the team eventually finalised Gera.

For the female lead, the casting team cast the net wide. Chhabra said they auditioned nearly 1,300 girls before selecting newcomer Sara Arjun, who plays Yalina Jamali, the daughter of Bedi’s character and the romantic interest of Singh’s spy Hamza.

Reflecting on the film’s reception, Chhabra called Dhurandhar one of the most rewarding projects of his career.

Also Read | How Dhurandhar pulled a banker back to the night of 26/11

“Overall, Dhurandhar is a film I will always be proud of and the kind of love and enthusiasm I have received for the film has been unmatchable,” he said. “I’ve done so many things in the last year, ‘Tere Ishk Mein’, ‘Delhi Crime’, ‘The Family Man 3’, ‘Maharani’, and many others. But the love I’m getting for (‘Dhurandhar’) is something that I had got for ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, ‘Koi Po Che!’, and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’.”

He also described working with Dhar as creatively liberating. “The good part about Aditya is that the brief is so clear and he’s the only decision maker… Today, everyone sits and is involved in the casting, those who don’t know about casting also give their views. But that didn’t happen with this film.”

With audiences responding strongly to its blend of realism, spectacle and unexpected performances, the franchise already has its next chapter lined up. Dhurandhar: Part 2 – Revenge is scheduled for release on 19 March, 2026. The film is presented by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, and produced by Aditya Dhar alongside Jyoti Deshpande and Lokesh Dhar.