Review
Vikram Bose's Review of Dharma
Dharma operates in the familiar territory of revenge dramas, yet director Sanjay Leela Bhansali brings enough visual grandeur and emotional weight to elevate what could have been a formulaic outing. The central conceit—two men locked in generational vendetta, unknowingly manipulating the same young man as their instrument of war—has genuine dramatic potential. The film's strongest moments come when it leans into the psychological toll of this twisted triangle, particularly in scenes where Raju/Suraj begins piecing together his fractured identity. The performances, especially from the lead actor carrying the burden of playing a man torn between two father figures, demonstrate real conviction. Where Dharma stumbles is in its execution of pacing; the film stretches its second act unnecessarily, diluting tension with subplots that feel ancillary to the core conflict.
What's commendable is how the screenplay attempts to ground revenge within a framework of moral ambiguity rather than pure heroics. Both Chandan and Ajit are flawed architects of their own tragedy, and the film occasionally remembers this nuance. However, the climax, while emotionally resonant in intent, relies too heavily on melodrama and convenient revelations rather than earned catharsis. Radha's character feels underutilized—a dancer with agency deserved better than being primarily a plot device. The technical craft is assured throughout; the cinematography captures both the opule
Storyline
A hardened dacoit named Sevak Singh Dharma rules his criminal empire from the shadows, but everything shatters when his trusted lieutenant Bhairav betrays him during a police raid. In the chaos, Inspector Ajit Singh's bullets tear through Sevak's world—his wife and young son seemingly lost to the gunfire, leaving him to escape alone and reinvent himself as the ruthless Chandan Singh. Consumed by vengeance, he kidnaps Ajit's family, setting off a chain reaction of tragedy that will haunt everyone for years to come.
Fast forward and the playing field has completely shifted: Ajit's now the Inspector General while Chandan operates in the shadows as the mysterious Nawab Sikander Bakht, plotting his next move. His daughter Radha, raised by a prostitute after her mother's death, has grown into a mesmerizing dancer who falls hard for Raju, Chandan's right-hand man—but Raju is actually Suraj, Chandan's lost son, now unknowingly working to bring down his own father. The tension crackles as Ajit strategically plants Raju in the police force, suspecting his true identity, using the young man as an unwitting pawn in a dangerous game of revenge.
When everything explodes into the open, bullets and blood paint the climax in shades of raw emotion as father and son finally stand face to face. The truth demolishes the carefully constructed lies—Raju realizes he's actually Suraj, caught between two worlds and two fathers in every way that matters. In an act of redemption that hits surprisingly hard, Chandan surrenders to the police, choosing to end the cycle of violence himself rather than let it consume his children any further.