Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, starring Ranveer Singh in the lead, was undoubtedly one of the biggest films of 2025. And now just months later, the sequel titled Dhurandhar: The Revenge is quickly becoming one of the biggest releases of 2026. The first part won hearts and left audiences wanting more. Not just fans but even celebrities couldn’t help gushing over the spy action thriller. Well, the latest star in the list is actor Bhumi Satish Pednekkar. On the new episode of The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra, Bhumi admitted she wants to work with Aditya and Ranveer after watching Dhurandhar.
During the interview, Chief Managing Editor Sonal Kalra, Entertainment and Lifestyle, Hindustan Times, asked, “Bhumi, you have worked with some fabulous people. But who is that one director and who is that one actor who is still on Bhumi’s bucket list?” Hearing this, Bhumi Pednekkar replied, “One director… there are a few, I think choosing one will be a very difficult one. I definitely want to work with Sanjay sir (Leela Bhansali), and it’s my dream in whatever capacity. I do hope that I do get an opportunity to work with him because he’s a maestro, he’s a genius. Raju sir. Again, Rajkumar Hirani is just such a beautiful, beautiful director, and now I really want to work with Aditya Dhar because I enjoyed part one so much of Dhurandhar. And you know, I’m not an audience for like, very like masculine films. Mujhe neend aa jaati hai unme. Main connect hi nahi kar paati. But I really enjoyed the film. And if I think of actors, I’m a very big Ranveer Singh fan. You know, so I would love an opportunity to work with him. I don’t think there’s a single performance of his where I, as his fan, have been disappointed. Like in Rocky Aur Rani, I was obsessed with him. Definitely Shah Rukh sir (Khan). I’m again waiting to collaborate with Akshay sir (Kumar) again because he genuinely is one of my most favorite people, you know, I think I have so much fun with him, and he’s such a cheerleader, so yeah.”
During the interview, Sonal also asked, “Now that people are finding it a chore to come back to theatres, kuchh toh ho gaya hai pandemic ke baad se, normal nahi ho paya hai life. But, you know, this whole thing about ‘larger than life hoga tab hi log theatre mein aayenge’. So for instance, this beautiful rom-com that you’ve mentioned jo Imran ke saath hai… what is it that needs to be done to bring people back to these small beautiful stories as well?”
To this, Bhumi replied, “You know, this is such an important question that you have asked because what is happening naa, jo aapki small or medium sized films hain woh khatam ho gayi hai. I also feel that this is somewhere collective responsibility of all of us. I have made a career out of a slice of life films, that were word of mouth. No film is given an opportunity to be a word of mouth film today. Kyunki kya hota hai naa Friday ko collections aane shuru ho jaate hain and ek judgment de diya jaata hai ki iss film ki opening nahi lagi. Agar opening nahi lagi toh kya its not a film that’s worthy of being given a shot? Dum Laga Ke Haisha 1 crore ₹pe khuli thi. Agar tab ye narratives hote, agar tab yeh systems hote, toh naa main, naa Ayushmann Khurrana, naa Rajkummar Rao, naa Taapsee, hum mein se kisi ke career nahi hote. I really feel bad, that’s why I say it’s collective responsibility because we are the ones that are setting this narrative.”
The actor went on to explain, “How will these small sweet films work, you know, and these are the films that actually changed the society. These are the films for us, for women, because I don’t always want to go watch one magnum opus where the hero has an AK-47. I can’t go watch that film with my mother. But I can go watch a Queen with my mother. I can go watch a Kahaani, a Dum Laga Ke Haisha, a Piku with my mother, a Badhaai Do. None of these films, none of these films are films that have opened at like 20 crores or some 9 or 10 crores. These were nice films that got love and respectfully they grew through weeks. We have to give these small films an opportunity, and I really hope that, you know, as a consensus, as an industry, we all come together and we decide ki yaar these are the things that we need to change because agar theater mein audience nahi aayengi hum sab affect hone waale hain usse. Aur kya hai, as actors theek hai, I’m a competent actor, mujhe humesha kaam milta rahega. But where are the newer directors? Where are the newer stories? Where are the new writers? These people will not come. Aur ek OTT platform, jitne bhi humaare main players hain woh sirf bohot kum films har saal le sakte hain. Toh kya ek industry, jo 4 ya 5 saal pehele thousands of films deti thi in a year, will we only give 100 films in a year? Because aapki 5 ya 6 theatre ke liye banengi aur baaki OTT ke liye banengi. Aur OTT ke liye har saal mein zyaada se zyaada, you push it, there will be 100 films that will come out. So what’s gonna happen? They are only gonna be like 0, like 10% of the industry working. You know, so I’m also worried that how do we get people in theaters, but my one solution is that we need to encourage small and medium sized films, and that will only happen is if we stop labeling films and stop getting the audience to feel, oh my God, yeh toh bakwas hai. Kyunki har cheez number ho gayi hai ab. Aur number ke metric ke aage koi jaa hi nahi raha hai ab.”
Bhumi will next be seen opposite Imran Khan in the latter’s comeback film.
