The Dhurandhar ban kept Ranveer Singh’s spy thriller out of cinemas in all six Gulf states, even as it became one of the biggest Hindi films ever made. Here is what happened, what producers said and how UAE fans can watch it now.
The Dhurandhar ban covers the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, where Aditya Dhar’s film never received a theatrical release. It opened everywhere else on 5 December 2025, and on 8 January 2026 India’s producers’ body asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in.
No Gulf regulator has explained the decision in public. Indian media widely reported that the film’s anti-Pakistan content was the concern, and the same thing later happened to its sequel and to Border 2.
Dhurandhar ban at a glance
- Countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain
- Film: Dhurandhar, a Hindi spy thriller released on 5 December 2025
- Director: Aditya Dhar (Uri: The Surgical Strike)
- Cast: Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal and R Madhavan
- Producers: Jio Studios and B62 Studios
- Reported reason: content seen as anti-Pakistan, with no official Gulf statement
- Who objected: the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA)
- Streaming in the UAE: Netflix, since 30 January 2026
The Dhurandhar ban: six Gulf countries said no
According to Business Today’s report on the producers’ letter, the film did not get a cinema release in any of these markets:
- United Arab Emirates
- Saudi Arabia
- Qatar
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Bahrain
That is unusual for a Hindi film of this scale. The Gulf, home to one of the world’s largest South Asian communities, is among Bollywood’s most valuable overseas markets, and a big opening in Dubai often shapes a film’s international verdict.
Why the film was blocked
No reason has been published by any Gulf authority, so we treat the widely reported one as exactly that. Dhurandharfollows Hamza, an undercover Indian agent played by Ranveer Singh, who enters Pakistan in 2004 and works his way into a criminal gang in the Lyari neighbourhood of Karachi.
The story loosely draws on the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Films built around India-Pakistan hostility have long struggled to win clearance from censors in the region.
What Indian producers said about the Dhurandhar ban
IMPPA president Abhay Sinha wrote to Prime Minister Modi calling the Dhurandhar ban “unilateral and uncalled for”. The letter argued that the film had been released in India only after receiving an A certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification, and that the ban suppressed the producer’s freedom of expression.
IMPPA asked the government to engage the authorities concerned and to have the decision lifted at the earliest. It described the six states as India-friendly countries with regular business ties to India.
The cost of the Dhurandhar ban is harder to pin down. Wikipedia, citing the film’s overseas distributor, puts the lost earnings at about US$10 million, or roughly ₹90 crore. That is an estimate, not an audited figure.
A record breaker without the Gulf
The film broke records with one of its strongest overseas markets switched off. On 7 January 2026, the day before the IMPPA letter, it became the highest-grossing Hindi film in India by domestic net collections, at ₹895 crore. Its own sequel later took that record.
By the end of its run, Dhurandhar had grossed about ₹1,350.83 crore worldwide, including ₹293.03 crore overseas. That made it the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025 and the fifth-highest-grossing Indian film of all time.
Much of the praise went to the ensemble. Akshaye Khanna plays the gang leader Rehman Dakait, R Madhavan is the spymaster Ajay Sanyal and Sanjay Dutt plays a Karachi police officer, SP Chaudhary Aslam.
How UAE fans watched anyway
The Dhurandhar ban did not kill demand in the Emirates. In a YouTube interview reported by Gulf News in February 2026, R Madhavan said some fans flew from Dubai to India for a single day just to see the film in a cinema, calling it the power of good content.
For everyone else, streaming became the only legal route. Netflix bought the digital rights for a reported ₹85 crore, and the film began streaming on 30 January 2026. Gulf News confirmed it was live on Netflix in the UAE in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
The streaming cut is about nine minutes shorter than the 214-minute theatrical version, and some viewers criticised the trims and colour grading. Wikipedia records that an uncut version, marketed as “Raw & Undekha”, was added on 22 May 2026, so check the Netflix app to see which cut is showing in the UAE.
We would steer clear of pirated copies. Beyond the legal risk in the UAE, piracy hurts the producers who already lost a market they could not sell to.
The Dhurandhar ban spread to the sequel and Border 2
Dhurandhar: The Revenge opened on 19 March 2026, timed for Eid al-Fitr, but was not released in any GCC country. It still grossed more than ₹1,852 crore worldwide, with its overseas total of ₹475.93 crore earned without the Gulf.
The sequel reached UAE viewers through streaming instead. Khaleej Times reported that Netflix’s UAE listing scheduled an extended international cut, running nearly 3 hours 52 minutes, from 15 May 2026.
Sunny Deol’s Border 2, a war film about the 1971 conflict, met the same fate when it opened in India on 23 January 2026. The Statesman, citing Bollywood Hungama, reported that it was not approved for release in any of the six Gulf countries over perceived anti-Pakistan content.
What the Dhurandhar ban means for Bollywood in the Gulf
Three of the biggest Hindi releases of the season missing Gulf cinemas is a pattern the industry cannot ignore. Producers may think harder about geopolitical storylines, or plan earlier streaming windows for audiences in the region.
For UAE cinemagoers, the lesson is simpler. A film’s Indian certificate does not guarantee a local release, so check cinema listings before you plan an opening night.
Dhurandhar ban FAQs
Is Dhurandhar banned in the UAE?
Yes. The Dhurandhar ban means the film was never released in UAE cinemas, and the same applied in the other five GCC countries.
Why was the film not released in the Gulf?
No official reason was published. Indian media widely reported that its anti-Pakistan content was the concern.
Can I stream Dhurandhar in the UAE?
Yes. It has streamed on Netflix UAE since 30 January 2026, and the sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, followed in May 2026.
Want more on the film itself? Read our Dhurandhar review and our profile of director Aditya Dhar, and follow the story in our Latest Updates section.