Dhurandhar: R Madhavan Reveals The Story Behind His Transformation In Aditya Dhar's Spy Drama

The much-anticipated Dhurandhar trailer was launched on Tuesday (November 18) at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai. The event was attended by writer, director, and producer Aditya Dhar, alongside the star cast, although Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt were absent.

At the Dhurandhar event, actor R Madhavan, whose character is said to be inspired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, opened up about his transformation.

R Madhavan on his NSA-inspired look in Dhurandhar

Madhavan recalled how Aditya Dhar had narrated the script of Dhurandhar while he was busy shooting another project.

He said, "I remember Aditya came to me one day while I was shooting for something else to narrate the script of Dhurandhar. I listened to him, I listened to the research he had done, and I wondered, 'Where has this man been all this time? This is national-level research, but where was he?'"

Opened up about his look test, the actor said, "I was doing the look test for this character, it took us almost three to four hours to get everything right. I kept looking at myself, and we felt something was missing. One thing... just one thing was missing, and because of that, the resemblance we needed wasn't coming."

Then Dhar gave him a tip. He asked Madhavan to make his lips thinner. "For the entire film, I changed my lip shape (made them thinner), and because of that one small detail, the whole result changed. And then I realised - I am not the master here. I am working with true masters... all of them," he added.

Dhurandhar trailer

In Dhurandhar trailer, Arjun's character was introduced as Major Iqbal of ISI. R Madhavan plays Ajay Sanyal, the head of RAW, and Akshaye will be seen as ruthless Rehman Dakait. Sanjay is playing Chaudhary Aslam, an officer in the Pakistani police. Ranveer's character was not introduced in the trailer.

The spy saga will hit the screens on December 5, 2025.