Filmmaker Shazia Iqbal, known for her direction beats 2has publicly criticized the spy thriller stalwartCalled it “appalling” and insisted that “inciting hatred and violence is in its DNA.” His comments, shared via Instagram Stories, have sparked debate within Bollywood and among audiences following the successful performance of the film and its recent Netflix release.
Dhadak 2 director Shazia Iqbal speaks privately after calling Dhurandhar a “horrible” film that promotes hatred
Released in December 2025, stalwartThe film, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh in the lead role, has become one of the highest-grossing Hindi films at the domestic box office. The action-oriented espionage tale focuses on an Indian spy who is deeply embedded within a terrorist network, and features a supporting cast of renowned actors like Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt and Sara Arjun.
Shazia Iqbal’s comments did not explicitly name the film in her initial post, but she paired her message with the title track of Dhurandhar, making the target of her criticism clear. In his Instagram story, he described the film as deliberately provocative. “What an appalling film! It’s not hidden, it’s not unintentional – inciting hatred and violence is in the DNA of the film,” he said, later adding that many in the industry were not concerned about the implications of such material on minority communities.
Iqbal’s post continued with a note of sarcasm at industry peers: “But this is a ‘well made’ film guys… with some great BGM (smile emoji). Well done industry guys. Glad most of you don’t even care about minorities enough to hide your utter indifference.”
His criticism extended beyond Dhurandhar. Iqbal also referred to the teaser kerala story 2The sequel to the 2023 film which itself was mired in controversy. However, hours after sharing his thoughts, the director made his Instagram account private.
