After the success of ‘Dhurandhar’, Aditya Dhar is getting a lot of love. His previous release ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ was also a huge success at the box office, but his journey in the film industry was not easy at all.
Before achieving success as a director, Dhar spent years struggling and faced disappointments early in his career.In a recent conversation, veteran director Priyadarshan, who has worked closely with Dhar in the past, recalled how the young director went through many setbacks before establishing himself. Dhar worked as Priyadarshan’s assistant director for nearly three years in early 2010. Commenting on their collaboration, Priyadarshan said that it is difficult to predict anyone’s future in the industry.
“When Aditya was working with me, he was also writing dialogues, so I think we worked together for three years.
I was always positive about him because he had a wonderful language. “That was his biggest credit at that time,” Priyadarshan said in an interview with Mashable India. The veteran director also revealed that Dhar approached him during a particularly frustrating phase of his life. According to Priyadarshan, Dhar wrote scripts for a few projects but did not get proper credit for them.
“He came to me when he was very disappointed with some films he had already written, but he never got the credit,” Priyadarshan said.Interestingly, Dhar’s early ambitions were not limited to filmmaking. Priyadarshan revealed that the future director was seriously pursuing cricket and was close to being selected for the Under-19 team, but circumstances prevented that.“He was a cricketer but couldn’t join the under-19 team because of some political influence, so he was transferred.
He was very disappointed while sitting at home. Someone called him to watch a movie, and it was Gardish. He said he saw Gardesh and said, “This is something I want to do and I have come to Mumbai.”Dhar finally had his breakthrough with Uri: The
Surgical strike
. Speaking to SCREEN following the film’s success in 2019, the director spoke about the long wait before his big moment arrived.“2019 has been my most rewarding year yet. After years of struggling through numerous projects that were postponed for some reason, the wait turned out to be worthwhile and fun.
Not only did Uri find his way into the hearts of millions across the country, but he also aroused a sense of patriotism in people across generations. “That was my proudest moment.”Post Dhurandhar’s success, Priyadarshan congratulated his former assistant with a heartfelt Instagram post. The veteran director shared a throwback photo from the sets of Tezz and wrote, “There is no greater happiness than watching my student rise to such amazing success.
Congratulations to Aditya Dhar on Dhurandhar, and heartfelt best wishes for Dhurandhar 2.Dhar responded to the letter emotionally, expressing deep gratitude to his mentor.“Dear Sir Brian… This means more to me than I can put into words!! You believed in me when I was nobody, when all I had was a conviction and a few written pages. You treated me as an equal, and gave me something far more precious than mere work – dignity, trust, and love… In an industry where I was often taught what not to do, you taught me exactly what to do, not just as a filmmaker, but as a human being.”Dhar also revealed that he wrote the dialogues for Priyadarshan’s films Aakrosh and Teez, adding that his mentor’s influence shaped his journey as a director.“I will forever be your first student. Thank you for everything, sir. This success is as much yours as it is mine,” he wrote.Dhar’s upcoming film Dhurandhar: The Revenge is slated to hit theaters on March 19, while director Bhooth Bangla’s next venture Priyadarshan is scheduled to release on April 10.
