‘Hum pure Sikh community ke saath hain…’: R Madhavan clarifies smoking scene in ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’

MUMBAI: Actor R Madhavan has issued a clarification regarding a particular scene in his film ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, following concerns raised about the portrayal of a sacred verse from the Dasam Granth while his character smokes a cigarette.

The actor took to Instagram to address the issue and assured his fans and the Sikh community that there was no disrespect intended.

In a heartfelt message, R Madhavan began, “Dhurandhar ke pure parivaar ke ore se, aap sabka bahut dhanyavaad humein itna pyaar dene ke liye. Haali mein humko pata chala hai ki kuch logon ko iss baat se takleef hui hai ki iss film ke ek scene mein, Guru Gobind Singh ke Dasam Granth se kuch lines bolte waqt maine cigarette smoke ki hai aur isse unko thes pahunchi hai. Main aapko yakeen dilata hoon yeh bilkul sahi nahi hai.” (On behalf of Dhurandhar’s entire family, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you for showering us with so much love. Recently, we’ve learned that some people have been hurt by the fact that in one scene of this film, while reciting lines from Guru Gobind Singh’s Dasam Granth, I smoked a cigarette, and it pained them. I assure you, this is absolutely not right.)

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Madhavan explained that there had been a slight misunderstanding. “Thodi galatfehmi hai. Mujhe pura yakeen hai, yeh scene se pehle, yeh line bolne se pehle Aditya Dhar ji ne-jo mujhse zyada dhyaan rakhte hain inn sab cheezon ka-mujhe bola tha ki yeh line bolne se pehle, usse bahut pehle aap cigarette bujha dijiyega. Aur na aapke mooh se dhuaan niklega, na hi screen pe kahin dhuaan hoga, nahi aapke haath mein cigarette hogi. Kyunki yeh humaare liye bahut hi pavitra aur paak hai. (Before this scene, before saying the lines, Aditya Dhar ji, who pays more attention to these things than I do, told me to extinguish the cigarette well before delivering the lines. So, no smoke would come out of my mouth, nor would there be any smoke on screen, and I wouldn’t have a cigarette in my hand,” he clarified.

He added, “Toh maine bakayda cigarette bujha diya tha. Aur agar aap scene dekhenge, aapko dikhega nahi ki mere mooh se dhuaan nikal rahi hai, nahi frame mein kahin dhuaan hai, nahi woh scene end hone tak dhuaan ka naamo-nishaan kahin pe hai. Kyunki yeh humein pata hai, hum kisi ka dil dukhaana nahi chahte.” (So, I had properly extinguished the cigarette. And if you watch the scene, you won’t see any smoke coming out of my mouth, nor is there any smoke anywhere in the frame, nor is there any trace of smoke until the end of that scene. Because we know this–we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.)

Madhavan emphasised that the filmmakers have a deep respect for the Sikh community and their values. “Hum pure Sikh community ke saath hain. Aur hum unka bahut aadar karte hain. Main apne har film release ke pehle Golden Temple jaata hoon, yeh sabko pata hai. Humara yakeen maniye. (We stand with the entire Sikh community. And we respect them a lot. I go to the Golden Temple before every film release of mine; everyone knows this. Please trust our belief),” he said, urging fans to understand the intent behind the scene.

The actor further clarified that the cigarette was part of his character’s traits as Ajay Sanyal, a Director of the Intelligence Bureau. However, he reassured everyone that there was no intention to offend or disrespect any community through the portrayal.

Headlined by Ranveer Singh, the film has already emerged as a major commercial success, crossing Rs 700 crore worldwide since its release. Produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, the project features a multi-starrer cast including Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Rakesh Bedi and Arjun Rampal.

‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Aditya Dhar, released in theatres on March 19. The film is a sequel to ‘Dhurandhar’ (2025), which was the highest-grossing Hindi film of that year. (ANI)