It is not very common for a Bollywood film to be discussed mainly for its casting, especially when it comes to supporting roles or characters with very little screen time. However, Dhurandhar: The Revenge has been an exception. Much like the first film, the sequel has drawn attention for its detailed casting, often described as director Aditya Dhar’s focus on “peak detailing”. What started as appreciation has now become a major talking point among viewers.
As the film continues its strong run at the box office, casting director Mukesh Chhabra spoke to Hindustan Times about the effort that went into selecting actors for the film. He explained that the project was originally planned as a single film, but due to its length, it was later divided into two parts. Together, the films have a runtime of nearly eight hours and include around 300 characters, both big and small.
Talking about the scale of the work, Mukesh said, “In two parts, there are more than 300 people, and casting every role was difficult. It took two years of my life, and eight of my assistants worked day and night on the film, creating every look and finding every actor fit for each role. But it was so fun,” he tells us.
He also shared that he worked closely with Aditya Dhar throughout the process. Despite some disagreements, their collaboration helped shape the final result. “Aditya and I have been friends, so we can fight a bit. We can reach that common ground. There were lots of discussions where I heard him, he heard me, and we fought. But his brief was very clear, and that helped. I could visualise what he was imagining and what he wanted. There was no confusion.”
According to Mukesh, the positive response to the casting shows that audiences have connected with the characters. “This is our reward. We worked so hard on getting these actors right, and now people are discussing who played Atiq Ahmed, and where did Babu Dakait come from? It means they have connected with the story and the characters. The work has been very detailed. Nothing has been done on the surface. There is so much detailing. Of course, half my work was done with Aditya’s brief because it was so well-detailed,” he adds.
Mukesh, who has been working in casting for around two decades and has been part of films like Gangs of Wasseypur and Jawan, believes that one key reason behind the film’s success is the creative freedom given to him. He said, “Here it was just him (Aditya Dhar) and me. Jab kaafi log casting mein ghuste hain, tabhi casting kharab hoti hai (When too many people are involved in casting, then it all goes wrong). In such cases, so many people give so much gyan.”
The film stars Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy operating in Pakistan. The story follows his character as he goes undercover to enter the network of Rehman Dakait, played by Akshaye Khanna. The cast also includes R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt and Rakesh Bedi in key roles.
At present, Dhurandhar 2 is running in theatres and is reportedly close to crossing ₹1000 crore at the box office, reflecting its wide reach and audience interest.