asma halai's blog

Let’s break down its success and think about this movie a little deeper.

Alright, so this is the movie that broke the internet with its influence. The action, the love story, the music, the thrill, the unique storyline. It’s all that creates this gripping movie that has us all in a hold. I think a big part of what made this movie so influential is that it catered to such a large audience. What makes it dangerous is that same point. Such a large audience is being influenced by this movie, but there are so many subliminal messages that are being subconsciously absorbed that we don’t even understand them consciously.

The Ever-Famous India/Pakistan Hatred Trope.

We all know it, it’s mentioned in practically every Indian movie, and most Pakistani media as well. And naturally, that divests the Muslim/Hindu conversion, too. All throughout Dhurandhar, we see religious symbolism being portrayed to push a certain narrative. From the use of “Allahu Akbar” to the religious mantra of “Hare Krishna Hare Ram” in the background of pivotal scenes, nothing in this movie is unintentional. I think another interesting concept is the highlight of the Balochi culture. During the scene in which Rehman Baloch goes to a Balochi village to strike an arms deal, we see a display of Balochi clothing, dance, and entertainment. Interestingly, I found that some Pakistanis were impressed by this and found it showed a sort of “representation” of the culture. Looking at it from an outside lens, I appreciate the attention to detail, but it’s blatantly obvious that this movie is just trying to reel a larger audience in. I first interacted with this movie as my dad was watching it, and I walked by. Then I decided to watch it on my own. And then, finally, my mom decided to watch it, and I watched from the sideline for the third time. I’ll be honest, I get the hype. Cinematically, it does everything it needs to be an objectively good movie. It makes the watcher feel things, anxiety, thrill, nationalism, disgust and many other emotions in an extreme form.

Why so extreme?

Why is it that all the media that we are itching to consume these days is so extreme? Forget media, honestly, everything. Why is everything extreme? I think it’s because we’re living in a very extreme world. Look at it from every angle, like literally every angle, and you’ll see the patterns. From the influx of dating shows like “Love Island” in which participants are put in these abnormal, hyper-saturated “love simulations”, to movies like Dhurandhar, where the violence is literally insane. Like from the mutilating, cutting fingers off, individual needle being put into a hostage’s skin, all of it. And we’re eating it up. Like literally, when I watched the movie, I couldn’t stop, I was so glued to it, I felt uneasy by how much I was immersed in the movie. I had to skip most of the gore, because I was literally gagging at my screen, but it made me think about whats being going on around the world and how the media is training us to be numb to it. Why? Well, because it benefits the bullies when the bystanders do nothing.

Looking at it from a broader perspective. How Dhurandhar connects to the current Political Climate.

Bloodshed is ingrained in our history. Someone asked me, why is jihad a significant concept in the Quran? Subsequent questions could arise, such as, could Islam inherently be promoting violence, abuse and killing? What’s important to understand is that everyone has a lens. The lens that Dhurandhar is promoting is that Islam is a violent extreme religion. Is that the truth? From my lens, of course, the answer is no, but does that mean that people have not killed in the name of Islam? Does that mean that Islam has not been used and abused by people who want to use and abuse it? Of course it has! But I think the most important thing to realize here is that the issue does not lie within Islam; it lies within the people.

It’s one-sided to think that bad things have not happened in the name of religion. All around the world, people are dying in the name of religion. And it’s caused a giant rift. Religious vs. non-religious, Israel vs Palestine, Shia vs Sunni, and the list goes on. Each side thinks its side is right, and there’s nothing else to say about it. But here’s the thing: once you actually take a deeper look into every religion, you’ll find something you will relate to. Hating something doesn’t strengthen your own belief; it weakens it. Hating something shows you that because you’re so averse to something, deep down, maybe really, really deep down, you care about it in some way. We fight, kill, rape, and abuse; we numb ourselves so much with our phones, movies, and music that we lose sight of what actually matters. Movies like Dhurandhar and most other popular content today promote these extremes so that viewers, like us, become numb. Over the past few years, social media timelines have been flooded with the worst atrocities one can imagine, things that are happening every day around the world, and coincidentally, if you take a look at the entertainment we are consuming, it’s playing with that. Extremity gets views, extremity is the only way to penetrate through our brains at this time because we do not feel anymore. All around us, humans are stuck in states of apathy, guilt, shame and fear, and the creators and promoters of such movies know that. The real story of the gang violence in Lyari has similarities to the movie, but the narrative that is being pushed and absorbed by the audience is terrifying. So no, it’s not “just a movie”, because just like a single feeling can cause such a change in your body, imagine what movies like this are doing to the whole world. Movies that are literally farming and profiting off extreme feelings.

It’s not just the fighting and gore. It’s also the smaller, more subliminal messages, like the love stories. We say it’s just a movie, it’s not real, like. But take a look at how many patterns in this movie are literally reflections of reality. The intense toxic love story that’s promoting a “Harley Quinn and Joker” trope is conducive to the appeal of many modern relationships today. So the idea here is just, I think it’s very important that we are aware of the content we consume and what it’s doing to our brain, and how it’s impacting the way we feel, think and act.