Mumbai, March 20 Comparing "Dhurandhar" to his classic film "Satya", Ram Gopal Varma says he is pleased that the 1998 gangster drama served as a foundation for Aditya Dhar, whom he believes has revolutionized commercial filmmaking.
Varma has been highly praising Dhar, who has written, directed, and co-produced "Dhurandhar" and its sequel, "Dhurandhar: The Revenge."
The second part of the Ranveer Singh-starrer, released in theaters on March 19, has already earned more than ₹145 crore on its opening day.
"‘Dhurandhar’ is not just a film; it changed the rules, it changed people's mindset. It will definitely give rise to a new generation of directors, using this as a benchmark," Varma told
The filmmaker is known for revolutionizing the gangster genre with "Satya," a Mumbai-based crime drama that redefined realism in Hindi cinema and introduced a character-driven narrative. The film featured J D Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpayee, Saurabh Shukla, and Urmila Matondkar.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, "Dhurandhar" is a spy action thriller in which an Indian agent, Jaskirat Singh Rangi, also known as Hamza Ali Mazari, goes undercover inside Karachi's criminal underworld and then works to dismantle a terrorist network targeting India.
The narrative draws on real events, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Parliament attack, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
"I believe that after seeing ‘Dhurandhar,’ I feel that Aditya is far ahead... I remember telling Aditya how he managed to take what I started with ‘Satya’ to a whole new level... If ‘Satya’ is one, then I would say that ‘Dhurandhar’ is 10 times better," said Varma, who is also known for 90s and early 2000s crime dramas such as “Shiva”, “Rangeela”, “Company”, and “Sarkar” franchise.
When asked about fans pointing out similarities between "Satya" and "Dhurandhar" in many reels on social media, Varma said that every filmmaker is inspired by the work of their predecessors.
"‘Satya’ was also inspired by ‘The Godfather.’ Everyone takes inspiration from somewhere, that is a part of being a filmmaker," he said, adding that he was particularly impressed with the person who posted the reel.
Actors R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, and Rakesh Bedi returned for the second part, which is produced by Aditya Dhar, Jyoti Deshpande, and Lokesh Dhar.