The Post That Started It All

It began with a single tweet. On March 27, a social media user shared a scene from Aditya Dhar's 2019 blockbuster URI: The Surgical Strike featuring Paresh Rawal, captioning it with a note of appreciation: he quite liked Rawal as the Ajit Doval-inspired character, with one small complaint — the film never showed him smoking.

It was an obvious nod to R Madhavan's Ajay Sanyal in Dhurandhar, a character whose near-constant cigarette was one of the most discussed visual signatures of the franchise. The comparison between the two portrayals of the same real-life inspiration had been simmering on social media ever since Dhurandhar first released. The fan's post brought it into sharp focus.

Rawal's Signature Comeback

Paresh Rawal did not let the moment pass. Reposting the tweet to his own X account, the actor replied with the kind of deadpan precision that has made him a cult figure both on screen and online: "Yes, didn't smoke but only broke the phones."

The response was an immediate hit. The phone-breaking reference pointed directly to one of URI's most memorable scenes — in which his character, Govind Bhardwaj, vents frustration by shattering phones rather than reaching for a cigarette. In five words, Rawal had neatly closed the loop, defended his portrayal, and given the internet exactly the kind of quotable line it was looking for.

Two Characters, One Inspiration

The comparison between the two roles is not incidental — it is structurally built into the films themselves. In URI: The Surgical Strike, Paresh Rawal played Govind Bhardwaj, a character inspired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who masterminded India's surgical strikes across the Line of Control in 2016. In the Dhurandhar franchise, R Madhavan plays Ajay Sanyal, the Director of India's Intelligence Bureau — also widely understood to be inspired by Doval, though the makers have never formally confirmed the connection.

Director Aditya Dhar is the common thread. URI was his debut. Dhurandhar and its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, represent his return to the same universe of Indian intelligence operations, geopolitical tension, and national security — with Doval's shadow falling across both films even if his name does not formally appear in either.

Dhurandhar 2 and the Box Office Wave

The context of Rawal's viral moment is the extraordinary cultural footprint that Dhurandhar: The Revenge has left since its release. The two-part franchise, made on a combined budget of approximately Rs 475 crore, has generated over Rs 2,350 crore in combined box office collections and sparked a national conversation that has cut across cinema halls, social media, editorial pages, and political commentary.

Ranveer Singh's Jaskirat Singh Rangi alias Hamza has become one of Hindi cinema's most talked-about spy characters in years. Madhavan's Sanyal — cigarette perpetually in hand, every line delivered with the quiet authority of a man who operates several moves ahead — has earned widespread praise as one of the most compelling supporting performances in recent Bollywood memory.

Against that backdrop, the fan's impulse to revisit Rawal's earlier version of the same archetype is understandable. And Rawal's response only added fuel to an already vigorous debate.

A Vocal Champion of the Franchise

What makes Rawal's engagement with Dhurandhar particularly notable is that he has no role in either film — yet has emerged as one of its most prominent public defenders. When a journalist shared a critical take on Dhurandhar 2, Rawal fired back on X without hesitation, telling the writer that their job as a "stupid reporter" was secured regardless of the film's outcome. When an RJ shared a sarcastic review, he responded with equal bluntness: "Your job as a stupid reporter is secured. Nobody wants it."

The RJ swiftly corrected him on his own title, but Rawal's intervention — factually accurate or not — only amplified the conversation around the film.

What He Has Lined Up Next

Paresh Rawal's current professional calendar is as busy as ever. He is set to appear in three upcoming releases — Bhooth Bangla, alongside Akshay Kumar, Wamiqa Gabbi, and Tabu, scheduled for April 10, 2026; Badtameez Gill; and Welcome To The Jungle. Bhooth Bangla, in particular, arrives just weeks away and is expected to be one of the bigger commercial releases of the spring season.

For a veteran of his standing, the "phone-breaking" tweet was a reminder that Rawal remains as instinctively watchable on social media as he is on screen — always ready with a line, always precisely calibrated, never quite where you expect him to be.