The Hindi film Dhurandhar The Revenge, directed by Aditya Dhar, gained attention for its large scale action sequences after its release in March. In a recent interview with Hindi Rush, SFX supervisor Vishal Tyagi shared details about how the action scenes were executed, particularly the use of real explosions instead of computer generated effects.
According to Vishal Tyagi, the production avoided CGI for major blast sequences. He said, “But Aditya Dhar said, ‘I don’t want to use CGI,’ especially for explosions. Jo last waala tanker blast tha, that was the toughest. Usmein sabse bada safety concern tha. (The last blast was the toughest. It was the biggest safety concern). Imagine 500 litres of petrol. All the fragments in that blast were real. Ranveer was walking in close proximity, and I had to make sure the flames did not reach Ranveer. We did all the work and precisely told Ranveer Singh where he could start walking. Humne actually Dhurandhar mein khoon paseena diya hai (We actually gave our blood and sweat to Dhurandhar).”
The sequence involved actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Rampal. Vishal Tyagi explained that Arjun Rampal was initially part of the setup but was moved out before the explosion due to safety reasons. He added that there was concern about Ranveer Singh’s proximity to the blast, though the actor remained calm during filming and followed the instructions given by the team.
He also noted that members of the crew, including Arjun Rampal, stayed back after the shoot to watch the explosion. After the shot was completed, Ranveer Singh reacted by saying, “Faad diya tune (You absolutely smashed it).”
Explaining the scale, Vishal Tyagi said, “I had a lot of production pressure on me. Real train base and containers were used for the explosion. It was very challenging, but we were confident. Production told me to use 250 litres, but I was adamant that at least 500 litres of fuel was required. To make that explode, I also had to add 25 kilos of explosive in each of these tanks to get the right effect. Maine suna sabki, ki apne mann ki (I heard all of them but did what my heart said).”
The film features Ranveer Singh in a central role and follows his character’s arc within a spy based narrative. The film has reportedly grossed over ₹1,750 crore worldwide and crossed ₹1,000 crore net in India, placing it among the highest grossing Indian films.