The Enemy Within: Why Some People Living in India Still Call Dhurandhar a Propaganda

The Enemy Within: Why Some People Living in India Still Call Dhurandhar a Propaganda

The critic sitting abroad is easy to understand. Distance changes perspective. Comfort reshapes loyalty. Their opinions carry a certain predictability.

But the real story is not outside India.

It is inside.

There exists a class of people who live in this country, benefit from everything it offers, and still feel a deep discomfort whenever India is shown as strong, decisive, or unapologetic.

They eat here, work here, earn here, vote here, and build their entire lives on the back of this nation’s stability.

Yet the moment a film portrays India standing firm against threats, their first instinct is not analysis.

It is rejection.

They call it propaganda.

Not because they have carefully examined it.

But because it violates something deeper. Their worldview.

This Is Not Criticism. It Is Conditioning.

Let us be honest about what is happening.

The “propaganda” label, when used by this domestic group, is not neutral. It is not even about cinema.

It is a reflex.

A trained response built over years where anything that presents India with clarity, confidence, or strength must immediately be diluted, questioned, or dismissed.

In this framework:

•Pride is suspicious

•Strength is dangerous

•Popular support is manipulated

And national confidence is something to be corrected

This is not intellectual independence.

This is ideological conditioning.

The Ecosystem That Cannot Let Go

These voices are not random. They come from a very specific ecosystem.

University departments that imported theories but never questioned whether they fit India.

Newsrooms where conclusions are decided before coverage begins.

Cultural circles where approval depends on how effectively you can critique your own country.

For decades, this ecosystem held narrative power.

They decided what was “intelligent,” what was “acceptable,” and what was “regressive.”

And one rule sat quietly at the center of it all:

India must never appear too confident.

Why Dhurandhar Triggers Them

A film like Dhurandhar disrupts that rule.

Not because it is perfect.

Not because it is beyond criticism.

But because it does something this ecosystem cannot tolerate.

It connects.

Directly. Emotionally. Widely.

It does not ask permission to exist.

It does not soften its tone to fit academic frameworks.

It does not dilute itself to avoid discomfort.

And that is exactly the problem.

Because when millions of people respond positively to something outside this ecosystem’s approval, it exposes a truth they struggle to accept:

They are no longer in control of the narrative.

The Arrogance Behind the Argument

Here is the argument they quietly make:

“If people liked this film, they must have been influenced.”

Think about that for a second.

Not convinced. Not moved. Not engaged.

Influenced.

This assumption reveals more than any article or panel discussion ever could.

It reveals a deep distrust of the average Indian.

A belief that ordinary people cannot think, cannot judge, cannot differentiate between fiction and reality.

That only a select group of “informed voices” can interpret culture correctly.

This is not concern.

This is intellectual arrogance.

Politics Has Consumed Culture

Another uncomfortable truth.

For many of these critics, culture is no longer independent. It is political territory.

If a film is appreciated by people they politically oppose, it must be rejected.

If it aligns, even loosely, with sentiments they disagree with, it must be labelled.

This is how you end up with reactions that are predictable before the first show even begins.

The review is ready. The tweet is drafted. The conclusion is fixed.

The film is irrelevant.

What They Refuse to Admit

What they cannot admit openly is simple.

India has changed.

The audience has changed.

People are no longer waiting for approval from a handful of institutions to decide what they should feel.

They are watching, reacting, and forming opinions on their own.

And sometimes, those opinions do not align with what they were told is “correct.”

That loss of control is what actually creates the discomfort.

Not the film.

The Real Source of Division

You will hear the same accusation repeated.

“This kind of cinema is divisive.”

But look closely.

Who is creating the division?

The people watching a film and feeling something?

Or the people insisting that those feelings are wrong, dangerous, and need correction?

Division is not born from expression.

It is born from contempt for expression.

The India They Cannot Process

There is an India emerging that this ecosystem does not know how to deal with.

An India that does not constantly seek validation.

An India that is comfortable with its identity.

An India that does not dilute itself to appear acceptable.

This India is not extreme.

It is simply unfiltered.

And that is precisely what unsettles those who were used to controlling how India should be seen, spoken about, and understood.

The Final Word

Let’s be clear.

You have every right to dislike a film.

To critique it.

To question it.

That is not the issue.

The issue is the instinct to label first and think later.

The issue is the refusal to accept that millions of Indians can independently connect with something you do not.

And the issue is the quiet belief that your discomfort is more valid than their experience.

Calling something propaganda is easy.

Understanding why it resonates is harder.

And right now, too many people are choosing the easier path.