Actor Saumya Tandon, who played a key role in Dhurandhar, addressed criticism after a social media user accused the film of being misogynistic and promoting aggression. Tandon clarified that the women in the film are neither mistreated nor objectified.
A user had posted a lengthy comment criticising Bollywood actors and the film, writing, "Step 1: be a male actor in Bollywood who is known for being a soft-boy. Step 2: realize you are becoming irrelevant and your female audience is losing interest. Step 3: grow out your beard and hair to look like a mindless caveman with no hygiene so you can cater to the male audience."
The user added, " Step 4: star in a misogynistic movie as a manchild with 0 emotional intelligence and get thousands of fanboys and fanmen. Step 5: promote aggression and misogyny under the name of 'masculinity' and earn crores of rupees while real men get influenced by your actions and go around doing real harm to women. But you don't care cause you're rich and have no ethics... Some more such examples: Shahid Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor."
Step 1: be a male actor in Bollywood who is known for being a soft-boy
— awkwardgoat3 🐐 (@DivijaBhasin) December 8, 2025
Step 2: realize you are becoming irrelevant and your female audience is losing interest
Step 3: grow out your beard and hair to look like a mindless caveman with no hygiene so you can cater to the male… pic.twitter.com/tr2TA9nifU
The post sparked an online debate, with another user defending the film by citing a specific scene: "Both the female leads legit slap men and they don't even react. This woman wouldn't have even watched Dhurandhar but as usual making lame points to play woman card which has no relation with the movie."
Both the female leads legit slap men and they don't even react. This woman wouldn't have even watched Dhurandhar but as usual making lame points to play woman card which has no relation with the movie https://t.co/ZRtRQYbBm2 pic.twitter.com/kUTrXAyt4f
— feryy (@ffspari) December 8, 2025
Reacting to the discussion, Saumya wrote, "Agreed. In the universe Dhurandhar is set in, with the societal norms the director chose to depict, it is a male-dominated world, yet the women are treated with dignity. They aren't beaten, objectified, or shown as one of many wives, even though that society could have allowed it. It's important to remember we're dealing with a very different world."
The actress also appeared to take an indirect dig at Yash Raj Films' glossy Spyverse films. She added, "Sorry that the grain of this story doesn't allow for glamorous heroines singing songs on exotic beaches, that may work for other scripts, but not in this one. That said, as an actor, I do hope I also get opportunities to be part of women-centric narratives."
Agreed.
— Saumya Tandon (@saumyatandon) December 10, 2025
In the universe Dhurandhar is set in, with the societal norms the director chose to depict, it is a male-dominated world , yet the women are treated with dignity. They aren't beaten, objectified, or shown as one of many wives, even though that society could have allowed… https://t.co/mzSZ2I3N7q
Dhurandhar was released in theatres on December 5 and stars Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal in pivotal roles.
