Offensive words muted in revised version of Ranveer Singh’s blockbuster after objection from Baloch community
Some members of the Baloch community reportedly approached the Gujarat High Court last week and filed a lawsuit “against the film for alleged hate speech targeting them”. The producers were later asked to mute the word ‘Beloch’ in cases where it could be perceived as offensive.
Ranveer Singh starrer Dhurandhar, one of the biggest blockbusters of Hindi cinema with a net domestic earnings of over Rs 700 million in India, is now shown with a dialogue and some words muted. Aditya Dhar Films decided to make the changes on its own and there was no directive from the Information and Broadcasting ministry, officials told PTI.
They said the filmmakers had approached the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with changes that included muting dialogue with the words ‘Beloch’ and ‘intelligence’, which were found offensive to some communities. The changes were made under Rule 31 of the Cinematograph Act; this rule allows producers to edit an already certified film as long as it doesn’t change the larger meaning of the scene.
In one of the scenes in the film, Sanjay Dutt’s character SP Chaudhary Aslam, a Pakistani police officer, says: “Magarmachh pe bharosa kar sakte hai, par Baloch pe nahi (You can trust a crocodile, but you cannot trust a Baloch).” According to India Today’s report, some members of the Baloch community had approached the Gujarat High Court last week to “file a case against the film for alleged hate speech targeting them”, citing this sentence as one of the evidence. The producers were later asked to mute the word ‘Beloch’ in cases where it could be perceived as offensive.
Dhurandhar has earned over Rs 1,100 billion at the global box office and has created a sensational record since its release on December 5. The spy thriller, which also stars Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun, Danish Pandor, Gaurav Gera, Rakesh Bedi and R Madhavan, also sparked a massive social media frenzy driven by thunderous audience response and viral reels.
The Aditya Dhar directorial will be followed by the sequel Dhurandhar Part 2: Revenge, which is scheduled to release in theaters on March 19, 2026. The film is heading for a huge box office clash with Yash’s pan-India gangster epic Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, which also stars Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Rukmini Vasanth and Huma. Qureshi. Adding to the crowded release list, action drama Dacoit, starring Adivi Sesh, Mrunal Thakur and Anurag Kashyap, is also scheduled to be released on the same day.
READ | While Ranveer Singh beats Shah Rukh Khan, Dhurandhar overtakes Pathaan to become the highest-grossing Bollywood movie in North America
