Aditya Dhar

Aditya Dhar (born 12 March 1983) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and lyricist who works in Hindi cinema. Previously worked as screenwriter and lyricist, Dhar made his directorial debut with the 2019 war film Uri: The Surgical Strike, a commercially successful, which earned him the National Film Award for Best Direction. He followed up with the spy action thrillers Dhurandhar (2025) and its sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026); both grossed over ₹1,000 crore at the box office, making Dhar only the second director to have two ₹1000 crore films.

Dhar was born on 12 March 1983 in New Delhi into a Kashmiri Pandit family. His mother Sunita Dhar was a former dean at Delhi University, where he also graduated before spending nearly two decades in music theatre, which helped shape his screenwriting career. His elder brother, Lokesh Dhar, has served as a leading studio executive at UTV Motion Pictures and later Fox Star Studios. In 2021, he and Lokesh co-founded the production company B62 Studios.

On 4 June 2021, Dhar married Indian actress Yami Gautam in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. Their first child, Vedavid, was born on 10 May 2024.

In 2006, Dhar moved to Mumbai and began his career as an assistant director. He contributed lyrics for songs composed by Raghav Sachar in the films Kabul Express,Haal-e-Dil and Daddy Cool. He joined as an assistant director to Priyadarshan and served as the dialogue writer for the director's films, Aakrosh and Tezz.

Dhar receiving the Best Director Award for Uri: The Surgical Strike at 66th National Film Awards

In 2019, Dhar made his directorial debut with Uri: The Surgical Strike, a war action film starring Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam and Paresh Rawal; it was produced by Ronnie Screwvala under the RSVP Movies banner and was filmed in Serbia. It was based on real-life retaliation operations following the 2016 Uri attack and received widespread acclaim for direction, cinematography, superbly executed single shot combat scenes and for thrilling and gripping narrative style. The film became a commercial success, grossing over ₹3.5 billion (US$41 million) worldwide, becoming tenth highest-grossing Indian film domestically. For this film, he received the National Film Award for Best Director and the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director. The slogan "How's the Josh" used in the film went viral in Indian social media. This question is asked to the cadets in military academies in India to test their enthusiasm. The slogan was also used by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while inaugurating the National Museum of Indian Cinema of Films Division of India.

Dhar was scheduled to collaborate with Vicky Kaushal again for the mythological superhero film The Immortal Ashwatthama. In 2021, the film was planned as a trilogy and was expected to begin filming; however, it was shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic and budgetary constraints. Dhar subsequently produced the films under his B62 Studios banner which includes the critically acclaimed political film Article 370 (2024) and the horror thriller Baramulla (2025); in which he also served a co-writer of the films.

On 5 December 2025, Dhar's second directorial, Dhurandhar, a spy thriller, was released, featuring Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Rampal, produced by his B62 Studios and Jio Studios. His filmmaking was well received, critics praising the ensemble cast performance, direction, cinematography, action sequences, soundtrack, world building and production values, while criticism was directed for mixing fact and fiction. Dhurandhar emerged as a major commercial success at the box office, becoming the 4th Hindi film to cross ₹1,000 crore worldwide. It grossed over ₹1350 crore worldwide and ranks 4th highest grossing Indian films of all time, 2nd highest grossing Hindi film, the highest grossing Hindi films in India and the highest grossing Adult-certified Indian film. On 7 January 2026, the film surpassed Pushpa 2: The Rule and became the highest-grossing film in Hindi domestic net collections. Thus, it became the highest grosser in Hindi language alone and also the most successful Bollywood film post-COVID. Originally Dhurandhar conceived as a single film, Dhar later opted for a two-part release because of the film's length, the sequel being named Dhurandhar: The Revenge.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge was released on 19 March 2026, only after 3 and half months of first instalment release. Like it's predecessor, it received praise for cast performance, technical aspects, musical score, Dhar's direction and world building, but criticism for mixing fact and fiction and its alleged nationalist propaganda. Nevertheless, the film achieved significant commercial success, exceeding the ₹1000 crore mark within a week and becoming the 5th Hindi film to do so. Dhar became only the second Indian director after S. S. Rajamouli to direct two ₹1000 crore films.

Dhar at 65th Filmfare Awards in 2020

Observers have noted Dhar's cinematic techniques and storytelling ambition, noting that his film's scale, set design, realistic action sequences and structural narrative style in chapters often leads the film. Dhar's directorial debut, Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) received acclaim for realistic war sequences and emotional quotients. The film was described as "patriotic by some and propaganda by others". The Times of India said that it was "a fitting tribute to the Indian Army conceptually but cinematically, it’s not a film without flaws".

His second directorial, a spy action thriller Dhurandhar (2025) received mixed to positive response from the critics. It garnered widespread acclaim for the technical aspects, narratives style, use of music and performances of ensemble cast, and criticism for mixing facts and fiction, while some commentators called it politically propagandic. While several other commentators and industry figures such as Ram Gopal Varma and Sandeep Reddy Vanga have praised Dhar's ability to craft high-voltage sequences and layered character portrayals that feel both immersive and emotionally charged, suggesting that Dhar combines a commercial sensibility with attention to detail and thematic coherence. Anurag Kashyap applauded Dhar's filmmaking and execution and called Dhurandhar a "courageous mainstream film", comparing it to other spy thrillers such as The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. He found some dialogues to be propagandistic but called it Dhar's politics.

• Aditya Dhar at IMDb
• Aditya Dhar on X
• Aditya Dhar at Bollywood Hungama