Paresh Rawal hilariously replied to a comparison between his Uri role and R. Madhavan’s in Dhurandhar, joking, “Didn’t smoke but broke the phones.” Fans loved it. Meanwhile, Madhavan and Ranveer faced backlash over alleged smoking scenes in Dhurandhar 2, which director Aditya Dhar clarified involved AI-generated images respecting the Sikh community.

Aditya Dhar‘s ‘Dhurandhar’ and its sequel ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ stand as two of India’s top-grossing films of all time, dominating especially in Hindi markets. With this triumph come inevitable parallels to his 2019 blockbuster ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike.‘ An X (formerly Twitter) user drew a comparison between Paresh Rawal‘s depiction of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in ‘Uri’ and R. Madhavan‘s character in ‘Dhurandhar,’ prompting a reply from Rawal.

Paresh Rawal claps back at viral ‘Uri’ post

A user on X shared an image of Paresh Rawal portraying NSA Govind Bhardwaj in Uri, along with the caption, “I quite liked @SirPareshRawal as Ajit Doval in Uri: The Surgical Strike! Except that they didn’t show him smoke in the film.” In the pic, Paresh delivers the line, “You might have just won us the war, son.” Replying with a repost, the actor humorously noted, “Yes, didn’t smoke but only broke the phones” (laughter emoji).

Fans react to Paresh Rawal’s hilarious reply

His fans found the response side-splitting, as one remarked: “Ajit Doval is like the Bond franchise. It’s an honor to play Bond. Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan & Daniel Craig. Similarly, you should be proud. :)” Another chimed in playfully: “Sir, phones had it coming, I guess.” A supporter gushed, “I think he is the best Doval. Pareshji has the personality and gravitas,” but a dissenter shot back: “No offense to Paresh Rawal…but Madhavan did a better job.”

R Madhavan’s ‘Dhurandhar’ smoking controversy

R. Madhavan, playing IB Director Ajay Sanyal in ‘Dhurandhar,’ recently had to explain a controversial scene. Social media buzzed with images and clips of him smoking, alleging he puffed on a cigarette during a recitation from Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s Dasam Granth. In response to Sikh community outrage, he released a clarifying video.“I am certain that during this scene, before delivering the lines, Aditya Dhar, who takes more care of these things than I do, told me to put out the cigarette well in advance. He said no smoke would come out of my mouth, no smoke would appear on screen, and there would be no cigarette in my hand because it is very pure and sacred for us,” clarified Madhavan.

Ranveer Singh’s ‘Dhurandhar’ AI image backlash

Then, people accused Ranveer’s character Jaskirat Singh Rangi (aka Hamza Ali Mazari) of smoking while wearing a turban (pagdi). Aditya explained the picture was made by AI and said the team respects the Sikh community a lot. ‘Dhurandhar 2’ opened in theaters on March 19 and is still playing.