The Hindi film hero stands tall, undefeated and emotionally invincible. Even when he suffers losses, he rises like a phoenix and reclaims victory in the final act. That’s the formula, the template. Dhurandhar: The Revenge, however, flips the template. Ranveer Singh’s Jaskirat Singh Rangi, alias Hamza, is not victorious in the conventional sense in the end.
(Spoilers alert)
Jaskirat, or Jassi, loses ties with his family, his identity, the love of his life and his emotional anchor even as he wins the war against terror for India. Paradoxically in the process, he emerges as one of the coolest heroes of contemporary Hindi cinema.
The defeatist hero no longer gives up and self-destructs. He fights silently and gears up for the next battle in life.
A hero defined by loss, not victory
Jassi’s emotional graph is rooted in separation and longing. He is separated from his wife Yalina (Sara Arjun) and their child in Pakistan. This, after Ranveer’s Jaskirat has already suffered personal loss back home in India at the start of Dhurandhar 2. The film positions him not as a triumphant warrior, but as a man fighting while carrying irreparable emotional fractures.
This dual loss becomes the character’s defining strength. Instead of revenge-driven aggression alone, Hamza’s motivations stem from grief, isolation and emotional exhaustion. His silences speak louder than his punches. In a cinematic era dominated by hypermasculine invincibility, Hamza’s vulnerability makes him stand out. Today’s audience relates more to scars than swagger.
The defeatist hero before Dhurandhar
Hindi cinema has flirted with defeatist protagonists from long before the Dhurandhar films. Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa presented a poet rejected by society, while Kaagaz Ke Phool explored artistic loneliness and decline. Amitabh Bachchan in Faraar portrayed a fugitive shaped by circumstance, and in Aakhree Raasta, the actor was a father driven by injustice, carrying emotional burden beneath the revenge arc. Uttam Kumar’s character in Amanush depicted a man broken by betrayal and social alienation.
There were the different versions of Devdas, too, brought alive by KL Saigal, Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan – the classic doomed lover who throws himself into the abyss of defeat after losing in love. It is a character brought to the screen from the pages of Sara Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel, with various versions of Devdas having romanticised the defeatist lover to suit their target audience down the decades.
Those characters were tragic icons — admired, but not necessarily styled as “cool.” Their defeat was melancholic, almost poetic, and driven by personal reasons. Jaskirat’s defeat, on the other hand, is framed with modern cinematic language — stylised visuals, restrained dialogue, and psychological depth. Most importantly, he forsakes everything not for personal reasons, but for a bigger cause – the nation. That’s the key difference.
Coolness in vulnerability
Ranveer Singh underplays the character’s emotional breakdowns. The coolness comes from restraint — the slow-burn gaze, controlled rage, and internalised pain. Jaskirat doesn’t scream his tragedy. He absorbs it. His stillness becomes his attitude.
The contemporary viewer finds this appealing because it reflects modern masculinity — emotionally aware yet strong. Jaskirat, alias Hamza, is not loud, not flamboyant, not invincible. He is quietly broken, and that brokenness becomes his aura. Defeat, here, is not failure. It is character.
From tragic to aspirational
Earlier defeatist heroes symbolised despair. Jaskirat symbolises endurance. His pain doesn’t isolate him from the audience; it pulls them closer. He fights not because he believes he will win, but because he has nothing left to lose.
This existential stance resonates strongly in today’s uncertain world, where success is not guaranteed, and emotional struggles are openly acknowledged. The hero who survives emotionally shattered yet functional feels more real than the one who conquers everything. Hamza becomes aspirational not because he wins — but because he keeps going.
Reinventing Bollywood masculinity
The conventional Bollywood hero often relied on bravado, romantic dominance, and triumphant closure. Jaskirat, or Hamza, rejects all three. His romance is incomplete, his victories are personal rather than public, and his closure remains ambiguous.
Ranveer’s performance strips away flamboyance and embraces emotional minimalism. The result is a character who looks “cool” not through style alone, but through emotional authenticity.
The defeatist hero, once seen as tragic, now feels contemporary.
The rise of the wounded warrior
Jaskirat Singh Rangi, alias Hamza Ali Mazari, belongs to a new generation of Hindi film protagonists — wounded, introspective, and morally complex. He doesn’t seek applause; he earns empathy. His journey proves that defeat can coexist with dignity, and vulnerability can coexist with strength.
In Dhurandhar: The Revenge, Ranveer doesn’t just play a hero who loses. He plays a hero who makes losing look powerful. And in doing so, he redefines what it means to be cool in Bollywood today.
