Dhurandhar 2 faces plagiarism row! Did Aditya Dhar copy the script?

The blockbuster Dhurandhar: The Revenge has been thrust into a high‑stakes legal battle as director Aditya Dhar has issued a legal notice to filmmaker Santosh Kumar RS after Santosh publicly accused the Ranveer Singh‑led spy thriller of being plagiarised from his original script. The controversy erupted after Santosh alleged that Dhar stole his story and made the film using his concept , triggering heated debate across industry circles.

Santosh Kumar RS filmmaker from Karnataka, began as an actor, then directed Kannada films Students , Bindaas Googly , Campus Kranti , and over a dozen Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada music videos. Santosh claimed that he had written a script titled D‑Saheb in 2023 , registered it with the Screenwriters Association, and narrated a similar story to several corporate houses , including major studios, long before Dhurandhar went into production. He says he even envisioned casting Aditya Roy Kapur in the lead during his pitches. His statement, “Aditya Dhar has to accept that he has stolen my story,” went viral and intensified scrutiny of the film’s origins.

At a press interaction, Santosh insisted he only received a reply to his email, not a legal notice , and accused the production of harassment for speaking out. He vowed to pursue his case in court, claiming he has email exchanges, registration documents, and other evidence to support his allegations.

Dhar’s legal team has strongly rebutted the claims, calling them “ baseless, false, and untenable ” and asserting that Dhurandhar is an original idea registered by Dhar in September 2023, before Santosh’s registration.

Despite the controversy, the film continues its blockbuster run , with box office figures reporting over ₹937 crore in India and around ₹1,490 crore globally, underscoring its immense commercial success even amid the authorship dispute.

Now, with both parties prepared for legal action and neither willing to back down, the plagiarism row has become one of the industry’s most talked-about off‑screen dramas, spotlighting the ongoing complexities of creative rights in modern Bollywood.