New Delhi: Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal who stars as a key antagonist, Major Iqbal (an ISI mastermind), in the highly anticipated Dhurandhar franchise, including 2025 blockbuster and its 2026 sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, recently at an event opened up about witnessing the event of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Actor recalls haunting memories of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks
After being honoured at the Hello! Hall of Fame Awards held in Mumbai on Sunday (March 22), the actor spoke up about haunting memory from the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
He said, “I wanna give you an anecdote about when Aditya Dhar actually called me for this film and he narrated to me the part of Major Iqbal.”
Recounting the experience, he continues, “So, on 26/11 in 2008, I was in this hotel, I had come to pick up my friends, we were on our way the Taj because we were going to celebrate my birthday and 26/11 also happens to be my birthday and we were gonna go there and one guy was getting ready, god bless him, so we were at the bar, we ordered a drink and the first bomb went off and I heard the sound and the glass kind of shook and rattled and we were like ‘What the hell was that?’ and in 10 minutes our phones were ringing and everybody said that there was some gang war that is broken off in Colaba, so don’t come there and in 20 to 30 minutes, the whole of Four Seasons got shut. And Adarsh Jatia very gracefully gave me a suite and said, ‘You can stay here for the night, but we can’t let anybody go out. It’s not safe.’”
He added, “On my birthday I saw the horrors of 26/11 attacks play out. And the morning when I drove back home I had to stop at least three times because I thought I was gonna be sick. When Aditya Dhar narrated to me the 26/11 scene, I knew I was gonna have my revenge and that’s what I did with Dhurandhar. I am really sorry I abused India so much in the movie, but I am a patriot at heart and all I want to say is Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”
About Dhurandhar: The Revenge
Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026) is an action-thriller sequel that follows Indian undercover agent Jaskirat Singh Rangi, also known as Hamza Ali Mazari, as he operates deep within Pakistan. After eliminating gang leader Rehman Dakait in the first film, Hamza rises through Karachi’s underworld and political landscape, facing a brutal, high-stakes battle against ISI operatives and powerful enemies to protect Indian interests.
Arjun Rampal plays Major Iqbal, the film’s primary antagonist, a ruthless and calculating ISI mastermind inspired by real-life terror figures. His character serves as the central rival to Ranveer Singh’s Hamza in the gripping sequel.
