4 min readMumbaiMar 14, 2026 04:45 PM IST
Ram Gopal Varma is at it once again. Since Dhurandhar released in December last year, he has been one of the film’s most vocal supporters, frequently praising both the film and its director, Aditya Dhar. Now, he has spoken again about Dhar’s work, suggesting that the filmmaker may have drawn inspiration from some of Varma’s own iconic films such as Satya and Company while making the gangster action drama.
‘I was influenced by Satya and Company’: Aditya Dhar told RGV
“See, whether Aditya Dhar did it consciously or not, eventually, all filmmakers will go back to something they’ve seen, or they got inspired by, and they’re bound to be influenced,” he said in a chat with DNA India. He then went on to add, “For me, Shiva was inspired by Bruce Lee’s Return of the Dragon and Sunny Deol’s Arjun. Satya was a bit of The Godfather and The Goodfellas. So likewise, when I spoke to Aditya, he told me, ‘I was mainly influenced by Satya and Company, and then I mixed them, and put some patriotism’. That was his first idea.”
‘They hate Aditya Dhar’: RGV
Recently, RGV also said that Aditya’s success has sparked envy in parts of the film industry, with many people waiting for him to fail. Speaking to Rediff, he said: “You have to understand what Aditya Dhar has done to the movie business. He has changed the entire grammar of storytelling on screen. Our movies will never be the same again, and I am talking about all the languages, not only Hindi.” He added, “In Telugu, many of the forthcoming big-budget action films are undergoing massive reshoots, which means huge budgetary liabilities. So, of course, they hate him. He has forced them to get out of their comfort zones, and that costs a hell lot of money.”
Varma also addressed the scrutiny around Aditya’s wife, Yami Gautam, who last starred in the courtroom drama Haq. Advising the couple publicly, he said, “Aditya Dhar and Yami Gautam will have to move forward with extra caution. The film industry is waiting for them to fumble and fall.”
‘RGV is one of my favourite directors’: Aditya Dhar
Back in December, when Dhurandhar released and drew widespread attention, RGV had called it a “quantum leap in Indian cinema,” crediting Aditya for having “completely and singlehandedly changed the future of Indian cinema.”
Responding to this praise, Aditya expressed his admiration for the filmmaker, saying, “He is one of my favourite directors who made Indian cinema feel fearless, impolite, and alive. If Dhurandhar has even a fraction of that DNA, it’s because your films whispered (sometimes screamed) in my head while I was writing and directing it.” He shared this on X.
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Meanwhile, Aditya Dhar is now preparing for the release of Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the eagerly awaited sequel that has generated considerable anticipation among audiences. He recently marked his birthday, sharing on social media that he spent the occasion putting the finishing touches on the film, which is set to premiere in less than a week.
As per Sacnilk, advance bookings for Dhurandhar 2 across India for the preview day on Wednesday, March 18, have already surpassed Rs 27.34 crore. Including block bookings, the total has escalated to an impressive Rs 32.09 crore.
