Mumbai: Director Aditya Dhar rose to become one of the most-talked-about filmmakers in Bollywood ever since his blockbuster Dhurandhar movie franchise. The first part, released in 2025, became the first Hindi movie to cross Rs 100 on the opening day. Meanwhile, the most recent second part garnered a historic Rs 102 crore in India on the opening day. Its worldwide total was about Rs 236 crore.
Since the back-to-back hits, Dhar has become the talk of the town. His craft and intelligent filmmaking are widely discussed online and offline by critics as well as senior artists and filmmakers in the industry.
Here’s everything you must know about the director:
Who is Aditya Dhar?
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Dhar, born on March 12, 1983, in New Delhi, is an award-winning Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer. The filmmaker, who belongs to a Kashmiri Pandit family, made his directorial debut in Bollywood through Uri: The Surgical Strike in 2019. The movie got him the National Award for Best Director that year. Dhar has also co-founded a production house along with his brother Lokesh Dhar in 2019.
Before Bollywood in the picture, Dhar was committed towards cricket. He played at the Under-19 level and hoped to be a part of the national team. However, cricket was in his cards. Later, he started his career in films. He started as a lyricist for the film Kabul Express (2006). He then went on to work for Aakrosh (2010) and Tezz (2012). Before his directorial debut, Dhar worked with veteran directors.
Controversies
Dhar’s movies, especially Dharandhar, have been labelled as propaganda by many. However, both the films from the Dhurandhar franchise have continued to perform extremely well at the box office.
Aditya Dhar’s personal life
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The filmmaker is married to actress Yami Gautam, whom he met during the making of Uri: The Surgical Strike. The couple tied the knot in 2021 and has a son named Vedavid.