{"id":424371,"date":"2026-05-04T06:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/424371\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T06:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:27:09","slug":"what-is-wrong-with-propaganda-films-javed-akhtar-defends-films-propagating-ideas-admits-he-loved-dhurandhar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/424371\/","title":{"rendered":"‘What is wrong with propaganda films’: Javed Akhtar defends films ‘propagating ideas’, admits he loved Dhurandhar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legendary lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar <\/a>has taken offence to the term \u2018propaganda films\u2019, saying all films have the right to propagate ideas, while expressing praise for Dhurandhar<\/a>, the Aditya Dhar directorial that has battled this tag ever since release.<\/p>\n

\"JavedJaved Akhtar has praised Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar.Javed Akhtar on \u2018propaganda films\u2019<\/p>\n

While attending an award function in Kolkata on Sunday, the veteran writer interacted with the media, where he was asked his opinion about \u2018propaganda films like Dhurandhar\u2019. Using his trademark sharp wit, Javed Akhtar responded, \u201cI don’t know what you mean by propaganda films. I loved Dhurandhar, which was an excellent film. I loved the first one more than the second one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran screenwriter-turned-lyricist added that one cannot label a film propaganda just because it does not suit a section of the audience. \u201cEvery story takes some stand, but does it become propaganda because the narrative isn’t suited to a section of the audience? Everyone has the right to propagate their ideas. What is wrong with propaganda films? The task of every filmmaker is to present the truth. Even if the narrative of a movie is built on a fairy tale, it will have some ideology in a way,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Javed Akhtar was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the P C Chandra Puraskar, which recognises exceptional achievement across diverse fields. The award show, held in Kolkata, was given away by a leading jewellery brand.<\/p>\n

Dhurandhar and the propaganda charge<\/p>\n

Directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar is a spy thriller that was released in theatres in December. Starring Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy in Karachi, the film was a critical and commercial success, grossing \u20b91300 crore worldwide. The concluding sequel was an even bigger hit, becoming the first Bollywood film to net \u20b91000 crore in India, and earning close to \u20b91800 crore worldwide.<\/p>\n

While the films were praised for their slick narrative, many complained that they seemed to glorify the BJP administration while downplaying the achievements of previous governments. This led to the propaganda charge. The director has not yet addressed the claims.<\/p>\n

The two films also star Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun. Dhurandhar: The Revenge is currently playing in theatres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legendary lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar has taken offence to the term \u2018propaganda films\u2019, saying all films have the right…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[86640,127201,78488,146,85,46,53795,397,199665],"class_list":["post-424371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-aditya-dhar","tag-bollywood-film","tag-dhurandhar","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-javed-akhtar","tag-movies","tag-propaganda-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}