If you went looking for Anupama Chopra’s Dhurandhar review on The Hollywood Reporter India and couldn’t find it – that’s because the video has quietly gone private. No explanation, no note, just poof.
Titled “A Tough Sit”, the review was mildly critical of the film’s gore and relentless action. Chopra described Dhurandhar as essentially a chaotic spy ride led by stylishly lethal men, fuelled by abundant testosterone, loud patriotism, and a generous dose of anti-Pakistan fervour.
It wasn’t all brickbats. She praised the film’s cinematography, production design, and overall scale.
As is routine on X these days, fans of the movie – and, in this case, fans of the current dispensation – promptly descended on Chopra for her “negative” take on what is clearly being positioned as the nationalist film of the year.
For what it’s worth, THR has kept Rahul Desai’s text review up and that one is hardly flattering either. It quite clearly says the movie is not great and “gets sidetracked by its own trickery.” But criticising a film in text is perhaps the safest thing today – outrage is reserved for reels and videos that scroll up your timeline. No one’s reading, so no one’s offended.
Chopra did not wish to comment on why the video was made private. She was earlier with Film Companion and has since joined The Hollywood Reporter as editor.
The Hollywood Reporter India was launched by RPSG Lifestyle Media, part of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, which also owns Saregama – incidentally the music label for Dhurandhar.
There’s no clarity on why the review was taken down. Whether it was a business decision, an editorial issue, or merely unfortunate timing is unknown. All we know is: the video existed, and now it doesn’t.
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