Veteran actor Rakesh Bedi, who plays the sly politician Jameel Jamali in the Dhurandhar franchise, is now gearing up for the second and final film of the series, Dhurandhar: The Revenge.
Bedi is upbeat about the box office prospects of the sequel, which is scheduled to open on March 19. Speaking exclusively to India Today, however, he had a cheeky jibe while talking of Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups being pushing to June 4 from March 19, when it was originally scheduled to clash at the box office with Dhurandhar: The Revenge.
On the makers of Toxic citing tension owing to the US-Israel conflict in the Middle East as reason for postponing their film from March 19 to June 4, he replied: “Tension toh humare liye bhi hai Middle East main, par hum toh aa rahe hai (the tension exists for us, too, in the Middle East, but we will release our film).”
Earlier the first film of the franchise, Dhurandhar, hit a road block while trying to release theatrically in the region on its stipulated release date, December 5, 2025. The film was banned across six Gulf countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — after authorities reportedly objected to its message, reportedly deemed anti-Pakistan in nature.
Is Rakesh Bedi’s Jameel Jamali based on Pak politician Nabil Gabol?
Now, another controversy has surfaced, with Pakistani politician Nabil Gabol expressing dissatisfaction over Bedi’s character Jameel Jamali in Dhurandhar. Gabol has reportedly claimed that Bedi’s Jamali resembles him. Responding to the claim, Bedi firmly clarified that the character was never intended to represent any specific individual.
“I didn’t portray him at all. I don’t understand why he is identifying himself with the character. I simply adopted a particular look for the role. Now if someone feels that my appearance resembles him, what can I really do about it? It’s not my fault. Perhaps because of the wig and styling he might feel there is a slight resemblance. That’s his interpretation. But there isn’t much we can do about that,” Bedi said.
Bedi further explained that the character was crafted by blending traits from several Pakistani politicians rather than a single personality.
“As far as the writers, directors and makers are concerned, we never once thought about portraying Nabil Gabol specifically. In fact, I created the character by blending traits from several Pakistani politicians, their speeches, their body language and the aspects that suited the role. I adapted those elements and then built the character from there. So, if Nabil Gabol alone feels the character represents him or chooses to see it that way then that’s really his own issue. I can’t help it,” the actor concluded.
Along with Rakesh Bedi, the cast of Dhurandhar: The Revenge features Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun, Sanjay Dutt and R Madhavan among others. The film is written and directed by Aditya Dhar.
