Javed Akhtar praises Aditya Dhar-Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar, asks, ‘What is wrong with propaganda?’ | Bollywood News

2 min readBengaluruMay 4, 2026 09:29 AM Veteran lyric and screenwriter Javed Akhtar voiced his support for creative freedom, stating that every art has the right to express and promote their ideas through their work.
Javed Akhtar was addressing reporters after receiving a special award from a leading city-based jewellery brand for his achievements, when he was asked to share his views on recent films like Dhuandhar being labelled as propaganda movies.

Addressing the debate around films being labelled as ‘propaganda,’ Javed Akhtar dismissed the rigid categorisation and told PTI, “I don’t know what you mean propaganda films. I loved Dhurandhar, which was an excellent film. I loved the first one more than the second one.”
He further elaborated that every story inherently reflects a certain viewpoint. “Every story takes some stand, but does it become propaganda because the narrative isn’t suited to a section of the audience? Everyone has the right to propagate his ideas. What is wrong with propaganda films? The task of every filmmaker is to present the truth,” he said.
According to Javed Akhtar, even fictional or fairy-tale narratives carry underlying ideologies, making it impossible for storytelling to be completely neutral.
Reflecting on cinema, he noted that films evolve with society. When asked if he would write a film like Deewar today, Akhtar responded negatively, explaining that changing societal values influence storytelling.
“Films are like mirrors. With the passage of time, morality changes, and aspirations change. As society changes, content changes,” he said.Story continues below this ad
Javed Akhtar concluded saying he would finally like to make a mainstream film acceptable to both class and mass audiences.