Hindi
Partition: 1947 — Attempt to create nostalgia
Suddenly, the flavour of the season as far as filmmaking goes, seems to be India and its history, distant as well as recent. Some films, like Indu Sarkar (the recent film about the emergency era), are made to please the people in high places instead of the moviegoer while the latest one, Partition: 1947, according to its maker Gurinder Chadha is the result of her own family’s ordeal during the partition of the sucontinent.
Sadly, filmmakers seem to find little in India’s history. Even Hollywood stopped making films on World War II in 1960s save for an odd Dunkirk, released recently. And then, America was the victor in the war and a reason to celebrate it through its films. The partition of India into two countries has nothing that the survivors would like to remember or something that would inspire people. Also, it was done at the whim of the British rulers of India.
Lord Mountbatten (Huge Bonneville), the last Viceroy is despatched to India to oversee handing over the reign of India to its own people, freeing it after the British entered India almost 200 years ago and actually ruled it for over a century. As one knows, handing over freedom was not a simple process as there was also the problem of two religious groups at loggerheads and the Muslims wanting their own country carved out of India. Also, Mountbatten was not the final authority as the shots were called from his masters in London.
The partition plans were already put in place by then PM Winston Churchill in 1945 and there was little left for Mountbatten to do.
Though there is a symbolic romance between a Muslim girl played by Huma Qureshi and the Hindu boy, Manish Dayal who become the victims of partition, the film is more about the happenings in Delhi. For the migration of people due to partition, the film uses mostly archival footage.
This may be Gurinder Chadha’s most ambitious film yet, but it does not quite grip the viewer. If the partition was planned in the high offices of London, the Indian leaders, squabbling among themselves, had little say or showed any inclination. And, if the highlight of the film is that Mountbatten was manipulated, it is hardly an attraction anymore to watch the film.
Producers: Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha, Deepak Nayar.
Director: Gurinder Chadha.
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, Michael Gambon, Simon Callow, Om Puri, Roberta Taylor as Miss Reading, Tanveer Ghani, Simon Williams as Archibald Wavell
Hindi
Dhurandhar returns to theatres worldwide on March 13 ahead of Dhurandhar The Revenge release
Jio Studios re-releases blockbuster across 500 screens globally before sequel
MUMBAI: The spy saga of Dhurandhar is gearing up for a big-screen encore before its next chapter arrives.
Ahead of the release of Dhurandhar The Revenge on March 19, Jio Studios and B62 Studios are bringing the original Dhurandhar back to cinemas worldwide in a rare international theatrical re-release.
The global blockbuster is returning across nearly 500 screens, including around 250 in India from March 12 and another 250 overseas beginning March 13.
For fans of the franchise, the move offers a chance to revisit the film that ignited the high-octane spy-action universe just days before the sequel lands in theatres. It also sets up a rare back-to-back big-screen experience, allowing audiences to relive the original before diving straight into the next chapter.
While re-releases of popular films are occasionally seen in India, international re-runs of Hindi films remain uncommon. The scale of the rollout reflects the growing global appetite for the franchise.
In North America alone, Dhurandhar will return to theatres across nearly 185 screens, highlighting the strong anticipation surrounding the upcoming sequel.
The excitement is set to build further with special Wednesday premiere shows of Dhurandhar The Revenge scheduled across the US and Canada on March 18, a day ahead of its global release. Many of these premieres will be hosted on premium large format screens, featuring wall-to-wall displays, immersive sound systems such as Dolby Atmos, enhanced projection and luxury seating.
These formats are typically reserved for major Hollywood event films, and early bookings suggest strong demand with several shows already sold out.
The recently released trailer of Dhurandhar The Revenge has also sparked buzz among exhibitors and trade circles, with expectations running high for the film’s international performance.
Dhurandhar The Revenge is written, directed and produced by Aditya Dhar. The film is produced by Jyoti Deshpande and Lokesh Dhar.
Jio Studios presents a B62 Studios production, an Aditya Dhar film.
The spy-action thriller will release worldwide on March 19, 2026, in five languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
The film arrives in theatres globally on the occasion of Gudi Padwa and Ugadi, just ahead of Eid, setting the stage for a festive box office run.
