Daayra director Meghna Gulzar recently shared her pertinent observation about her 2018 film Raazi, based on Harinder Sikka's 2008 novel Calling Sehmat, and the Hindi juggernaut Dhurandhar, on the patriotism quotient. Calling Raazi's characters no less patriotic than those of Dhurandhar, Meghna said patriotism doesn't need volume.
Speaking on the podcast Learn By KK Create, Meghna said, “Raazi's characters are no less patriotic than Dhurandhar's characters. Action is there because that's how they depicted the story. One doesn't need to be wrong to prove the other one is right.”
When asked about a comparison between Dhurandhar and Raazi, Meghna said, “I told in one of my interviews, ‘Patriotism and prayers ko volume ki zaroorat nahi hai. Woh ek particular tarike mein nahi hoti. Har ek ka individual expression hai.'”
She also said that in Raazi, her characters had a limit in moral compass, not in patriotism.
In a recent interview, #MeghnaGulzar was asked whether Raazi is less patriotic compared to #Dhurandhar, She tried to defend #Raazi and explain her perspective ☑️
— Aditi (@Aditi289867132) September 21, 2026
But the book's author, Harinder S. Sikka, has openly criticized the changes Meghna made to the story in the film ☑️ pic.twitter.com/PbT1u1quRp
About Raazi
Headlined by Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, Raazi is the story of an agent who, upon her father's request, is married into a family of military officers in Pakistan to relay information to India, prior to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Emerging as one of the highest-grossing films led by a female actor, the film received praise.
Raazi received 15 nominations and won a leading 5 awards (tying with Andhadhun), including Best Film, Best Director (Gulzar) and Best Actress (Bhatt).
About Dhurandhar
Directed by Aditya Dhar and led by Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan and Sanjay Dutt, the Dhurandhar franchise became the biggest one with Rs 3,000 crore.
The first instalment released on December 5, 2025, followed by the sequel on March 19, 2026.
