Aditya Dhar’s spy action thriller Dhurandhar, which released a week ago, is performing strongly at the box office. The film stars R. Madhavan as Intelligence Bureau Chief Ajay Sanyal, who leads a high-stakes mission to dismantle a terror network in Pakistan. While some have praised the Ranveer Singh-starrer for its attention to detail and expansive story, others have called it out for its violence and portrayal of politics. Now, Madhavan has shared how the film was called a disaster on the first day and even “obituaries” were written.

R. Madhavan on Dhurandhar’s polarising reviews

While talking to Esquire India, Madhavan reacted to the question of polarising opinions and spoke about his films Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots. He shared that he always knew a film like Dhurandhar would impact society. The actor stated, “When I heard Dhurandhar and saw the immaculate research that had been done by Aditya Dhar, the fearlessness of the man, the uniqueness of his storytelling — these were the signs I got before the release of my film. I knew that this was going to impact society. There will be people who will first give it very bad ratings, and then there will be people who will suddenly go and wonder, ‘Wow, this happened.’”