Ram Gopal Varma says industry ignoring 'Dhurandhar' as it feels threatened by it

New Delhi: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma says whenever a pathbreaking film like "Dhurandhar" releases, the industry people feel threatened by it and choose to ignore it.

Varma is a huge fan of the Ranveer Singh-starrer espionage drama that's set in Karachi's Lyari town. The film is directed by Aditya Dhar of "Uri: The Surgical Strike" fame. "Whenever a path breaking and monstrous hit like #dhurandhar comes, the industry people will wish to ignore it because they will feel threatened by it due to their inability to match it’s standards. So they will think of it as a nightmare, which will vanish when they wake up in their own films," Varma wrote in a long post on X.

The filmmaker, known for cult hits like "Satya", "Rangeela" and "Kaun", also criticised the recent spate of pan-Indian movies, stories that try to appeal to a cross section of audiences. "This is even more true of all the so called pan india biggies which are right now under various stages of production. They were all written and mounted, modelled on the films made before #dhurandhar which is the exact opposite of what they all believed will work what’s even more worrisome is that #dhurandhar apart from being a omega hit also is the most discussed film since the last 50 years (sic)," Varma said.

According to Varma, the filmmaker relying to stick to the template of heavy VFX, expensive sets, item songs and hero worship stories, will be "crucified" in their "self created dungeon of masala films".

"More than anything else @AdityaDharFilms is forcing the industry people to look at their own films in the mirror, in comparison to the beautiful looking #dhurandhar," the filmmaker said.

"Dhurandhar", also featuring an ensemble of stars like Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun and Soumya Tandon, has become the 10th highest grossing Indian movie ever by earning over Rs 600 crore at the box office since its release early in December.