If Op Sindoor was the real deal, then the three-hour long Dhurandhar is the reel version of the Indian security establishment serving revenge cold to the Pakistanis. The film opens by showing a groundswell of resentment building against the ineffective diplomacy of the “aman ki asha" variety. India just isn’t able to establish deterrence over Pakistan.

It imagines a scenario after the Kandhar hijack and the 2001 Parliament attack, where an Indian intelligence agent (loosely modelled on National Security Advisor Ajit Doval) plots retribution inside Pakistan. He’s shown waiting for a like-minded political leadership to emerge at the Centre to give him a free hand to dismantle the terror factory across the border.

And when such a government is sworn in, the agent is empowered by a senior minister with........

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