‘How can being Indian be seen as wrong?’: Madhavan on Dhurandhar, Rocketry criticisms | Bollywood News
5 min readKochiAug 9, 2026 07:11 PM IST
Although director Aditya Dhar’s Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar (2025) and its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026), became massive blockbusters, entering the Rs 1,000 crore club individually, they opened to polarised reviews. While some hailed the spy-action thrillers as masterpieces, others criticised the films as propaganda vehicles that allegedly attempted to whitewash the government’s missteps. Recently, actor R Madhavan, who played a pivotal role in the franchise, responded to the criticisms.
“Everybody is a product of their conditioning. From a young age, I was taught that our country is the most important to us, as well as what we do for it. If you look at my social media posts or interviews, you can see that I have never spoken ill of any political party, politician, or political leader. If someone does something good, like Stalin sir (former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin), for instance, I praise them immediately,” he pointed out during a conversation with Galatta Plus.
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‘I will do only good’: Madhavan on his politics
He continued, “I have decided that I will do only good, and if I have doubts about something, I won’t talk about it. When an elected politician becomes a Prime Minister or a Chief Minister, I believe it is my duty to support them. To date, no party — be it Tamil Nadu or at the national level — has approached me asking me to promote them, or inviting me to join them.”
The actor-filmmaker maintained that such comments people make on social media do not influence his decisions, as he sees them as nothing more than expressions of frustration. “If something good is happening in our country… For instance, if I post about a sportsperson who is performing well and bringing the nation fame, that’s because I feel that’s the right thing to do. If someone’s making me feel bad about that, then I will question their intent,” Madhavan pointed out.
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Madhavan addresses ‘propaganda’ labels on Dhurandhar, Rocketry
The interviewer further noted that while Dhurandhar was labelled “propaganda” by some, Madhavan’s directorial debut, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022), had also faced similar criticisms, with a few claiming that the movie placed too much emphasis on being Indian and the country’s traditions. The actor-filmmaker, however, doubled down, asking, “I don’t understand how being an Indian can be seen as a wrong thing.”
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“What does it mean by ‘being overly Indian’? I don’t know. Is it not okay to show myself as being ‘too Indian’? I don’t know. That’s not my conditioning; I showed that. This is not even a political statement. Dhurandhar was based in Pakistan. Good and bad things happen there as well, just as much as they do in India. So, I don’t understand what the ‘propaganda’ in it is,” he pointed out.
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Madhavan added, “In Nambi sir’s (aerospace scientist Nambi Narayanan) case, I only showed what happened in his life. How can I be honest with the story if I am afraid to show who he really is? He is a person who goes to the temple. GD Naidu (inventor and engineer), on the other hand, is a nastik (atheist). So, we can’t show such things (him going to temples) in the movie. I have to be true to that character. Because of that, one can’t say that I don’t believe in god or vice versa. I am an actor, and my job is to portray things as they are. My personal opinion is that I want to enhance all the good things about India. That cannot be a crime.”
How Madhavan spots bots and paid trolls online
When asked how he distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant criticism, he said it’s easy. “Look at their comment first, and then find out when they created their account, and how many followers they have. Through these steps, one can easily figure out if it’s a bot or a paid account.”
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Madhavan was most recently in director Krishnakumar Ramakumar’s GDN, a biopic of inventor and engineer GD Naidu. While he has plays the titular character, the film also features Sathyaraj, Jayaram, Priyamani, and Dushara Vijayan in key roles.
