'For the first time, I felt I should have been part of it': Paresh Rawal on not being part of Dhurandhar 'saga'

A blockbuster can do many things. For Paresh Rawal, it sparked a regret he had never felt before in his career.

Director Aditya Dhar's 'Dhurandhar' and 'Dhurandhar: The Revenge' have been shattering box office records. Amid this massive success, Paresh Rawal, who has previously worked with Dhar, spoke to PTI. He was transparent about his experience watching both films. "Dekhi, Dhurandhar 1 and 2 dekhi, part 1 do baar dekhi, dusri ek baar dekhi, vapas dekhne jaana hai. Mujhe hona chahiye tha ismein," he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

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The confession

Paresh Rawal did not stop at just expressing regret. He called the franchise a "saga", not just a film, but something far larger. "I liked Dhurandhar a lot; it's not just a film but a saga. For the first time, I felt I should have been part of it. Zindagi main pehli baar mujhe laga main hota ismein toh maza aata," he told PTI.

Why does the regret run deep?

According to the report of Hindustan Times, the feeling is not random. Rawal had previously played NSA Govind Bhardwaj in Uri: The Surgical Strike, a character inspired by Ajit Doval. In Dhurandhar, R. Madhavan played a character also inspired by Ajit Doval. Rawal found it interesting to see two different interpretations of a similar character on screen.

Earlier, Rawal had also responded to comparisons between his and Madhavan's characters on social media.

An X user posted Rawal's image from Uri, showing him saying the line, "You might have just won us the war, son" and tagged him, writing, "I quite liked @SirParesh Rawal as Ajit Doval in Uri The Surgical Strike! Except that they didn't show him smoke in the film." Rawal reposted it and jokingly wrote, "Yes didn't smoke but only broke the phones (laughter emoji)."

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A quick look at 'Dhurandhar 2'

'Dhurandhar 2' is directed by Aditya Dhar and features Ranveer Singh returning as an Indian spy in Pakistan. The film also stars R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Danish Pandor, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun. The first film was a huge success and earned ₹1300 crore worldwide. It became the second-highest-grossing Bollywood film ever.