Gulf Countries Ban Dhurandhar Over Political Content And Anti-Pakistan Angle

Aditya Dhar's action-drama 'Dhurandhar', featuring an ensemble cast that includes Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, and Sanjay Dutt, among others, released on December 5, 2025.

The film has rapidly emerged as a massive box-office hit within the Indian territory. Within one week, 'Dhurandhar' has collected over Rs 200 crore and is going well in terms of audience support with good reviews.

Why Dhurandhar Banned in Gulf Countries

But even as the film is doing phenomenally well back home, it has got into some serious trouble overseas. If reports are to be believed then ‘Dhurandhar’ has been completely banned across all gulf countries, stopping it from releasing in one of the world’s biggest overseas market for Bollywood films because there were apprehensions that this would happen as the film is perceived as an ‘anti-Pakistan film’.

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Dhurandhar: Prominent Casts

1. Ranveer Singh as Hamza Ali Mazari / Jaskirat Singh Rangi
2. Sanjay Dutt as SP Chaudhary Aslam
3. Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait
4. R. Madhavan as Ajay Sanyal, Director of IB (based on Ajit Doval)
5. Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal, ISI (based on Ilyas Kashmiri and Major Iqbal)
6. Sara Arjun as Yalina Jamali, Jameel's daughter and Hamza's wife

Gulf Countries where Dhurandhar Banned?

As per the reports, the film was denied approval in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The countries reportedly questioned the “political positioning” of the film and pointed out its strong anti-Pakistan undertones.

An official, quoted in the report, said that officials in the Gulf were apprehensive about the film even before reviewing it.

Movies revolving around conflict between India and Pakistan have often received clearance late or not at all from this region.

Despite the attempt by the team for a release, every Gulf country rejected the film, leading to a complete ban.

Impact on Box Office Collections Abroad

Despite the restrictions in the Middle East, ‘Dhurandhar’ could collect Rs 44.08 crore in four days from other international markets.

Analysts say this number would have been big by a hefty margin had the movie released in the UAE/GCC belt, which is otherwise one of the biggest foreign territories for Hindi films.

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