This spy-gangster drama ignites but never takes off

A man in a pathani, sporting a flowing beard and a mane, crosses over towards Pakistan at the Afghanistan border.

- KARTIK BHARDWAJ

He boards a bus to Karachi. Till now, the man has no name. He gets off and looks up at a board which reads: Lyari town. No slow-mo or low-angle shot announces Ranveer Singh’s arrival. His first night, he gets beaten up and narrowly escapes being sodomised. The next morning, he is gobbling at morsels given by a well-wisher. Welcome to Pakistan.After setting up a predictable context, which includes the retelling of the 1999 Kandahar hijack and the 2001 Parliament attack, Dhurandhar begins with novelistic promise. It was impressive to watch a film which isn’t eager to impress. It calmly sets up the story. Dhurandhar asks for your time, so that it can lay down its cards. But then two hours have passed, and the ace seems to be still far up its sleeves.