If you have been anywhere near a cinema hall in the last two weeks or on Instagram, you know that Dhurandhar is what the world is talking about. The latest spy thriller has rewritten box office records, crossing the Rs 400 cr mark and leaving audiences looking for more. Whether it’s Ranveer Singh’s intense portrayal of Hamza, Akshaye Khanna’s class act as Rahman Dakait, or R. Madhavan’s calm strategic genius, the film is drawing audiences to the theatres in droves.
So, while the rest of the country is debating the cliffhangers and the movie’s politics, I look at it from different angle.
Look at it through the lens of a smart investor and you will see that under the layers of espionage, betrayal, and bloodshed, Dhurandhar offers a surprisingly robust framework for investing.
The strategies used by Indian Intelligence to dismantle a terror network in the movie are similar to the strategies required to build wealth in the stock market. Now, you might ask, “What does a spy thriller set in the underbelly of Karachi have to do with my investments?”
Let me try and break it down…
#1 ‘Nazar aur Sabr’: The Holy Grail of Value Investing
One of the most viral moments in the film comes from R. Madhavan’s character, IB Chief Ajay Sanyal. Before sending Hamza (Ranveer Singh) into Lyari, he delivers a line that has now been plastered all over Instagram reels:
“Kismat ki ek bohut khoobsurat aadat hai, ki woh waqt aane par badalti hai… Lekin filhal… Nazar aur sabr.” (Destiny has a beautiful habit; it changes when the time is right. But for now… keep your eyes open and have patience.)
In the context of the movie, this is about the long game of espionage. In the context of investments, this is the Holy Grail of value investing.
Every investor goes through a phase where their portfolio looks stagnant or, worse, red. You bought a fundamentally strong stock. A company with great cash flows, zero debt, and excellent management, but the price isn’t moving. In fact, it might be falling because the broader market is in a correction mode.
This is where “Nazar” (Awareness) and “Sabr” (Patience) come in.
Nazar: Keep a close watch on the company’s fundamentals, not just the stock price. Has the business model changed? Is there a change in Management? Are the profits growing? This “Nazar” or a vigilant eye prevents you from panic-selling.
Sabr: In the words of Warren Buffett, the market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient. Just like Sanyal knew the operation would take years to bear fruit, you must understand that wealth creation is not an overnight event. Compounding needs time to work its magic. If you exit too early because you lack sabr (patience), you miss the moment destiny changes. The imminent bull run that follows a consolidation phase.
#2 The ‘Hamza’ Protocol: Why Infiltration (SIPs) Beats Aggression
Ranveer Singh’s character, Hamza, doesn’t just walk into Lyari and start shooting. He goes slow with patience to make a place for himself. He spends time becoming a part of the ecosystem, gaining trust slowly, layer by layer, until he becomes indispensable. It is a slow, boring, dangerous grind before the big payoff.
This is exactly how a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) works. You don’t dump your entire life savings into the market on Day 1. That is the Rambo shooting style of investing that usually gets you killed in the markets quickly. Instead, you go slow.
You buy when the market is high, you buy when the market is low, and you buy when the market is boring. Like Hamza, your capital slowly becomes a part of the market’s ecosystem. Over 5, 10, or 15 years, this slow infiltration allows you to capture the “Rupee Cost Averaging” benefit.
You see, Hamza didn’t try to take down the syndicate in a day. He let the pressure build up. Similarly, don’t try to time the market tops and bottoms. Stay in the game, keep adding to your position, and wait for the compounding effect to trigger the growth you waited all the while for.
#3 From Death Row to Dhurandhar: The Art of Spotting Turnarounds
Spoiler Alert: The big twist in the movie reveals that Hamza is Jaskirat Singh Rangi, a death-row inmate recruited for a mission because he had nothing left to lose. The system had written him off as possible trash, but Ajay Sanyal saw something else in him and others like him. He saw a Dhurandhar.
And that right there is the essence of Distressed Asset Investing or Contrarian Investing.
The average investor often writes off certain sectors or companies because they are going through a rocky patch. Think of PSU banks a few years ago or the auto sector during a cyclical downturn. These stocks are left for dead, giving them low valuations and sell ratings.
But a visionary investor who understands the value of Nazar and Sabr, looks past the current bad news. They ask: “Is the core value still there? Is this problem temporary?”. And they base their decision on the answers to such questions.
If you can identify a Jaskirat in the stock market, a beaten-down stock with solid assets that is being ignored by the crowd, you can make solid wealth if and when that stock eventually turns around. The market hates uncertainty, and it punishes stocks severely for it. If you have the vision to spot value where others see only risk, you win.
#4 The ‘Blockbuster’ Structure: Why Your Portfolio Needs Chapters
Director Aditya Dhar structured Dhurandhar into distinct chapters, each with a specific objective, villain, and tone. This serves the purpose well of keeping audiences hooked through what is a 3.5-hour movie. The movie doesn’t try to do everything at once; it tackles one target at a time, moving the narrative forward logically.
Too many retail investors have what we can call a khichdi portfolio. A random mix of stocks, mutual funds, gold, and crypto with no clear structure. They are investing for money and not for goals.
You need to structure your financial life in Chapters like Dhar did with Dhurandhar.
- Chapter 1: The Emergency Fund. (The safety net, much like the intelligence support team).
- Chapter 2: Short-Term Goals. (Capital preservation for things like a car or a vacation, use Debt funds).
- Chapter 3: Long-Term Wealth. (Aggressive equity exposure for retirement or a child’s education).
By compartmentalizing your investments, you create a strategy that is clear. Treat your portfolio like your own well-scripted movie, using distinct chapters for distinct goals.
#5 The ‘Dakait’ Rule: Why Even Villains Diversify Their Assets
The antagonist of Dhurandhar, Rehman Dakait, played brilliantly by Akshaye Khanna, isn’t just a goon. He runs a complex, diversified syndicate laundering drug money, real estate fronts, and shipping lines. If one arm of his business is attacked, the others keep him afloat.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not asking you to go the Dakait way! The question is, if the villains are diversifying, why aren’t you?
A common mistake that investors make is falling in love with a single sector. “Renewable energy is the future!” they shout, filling their portfolio with 80% power stocks. Then, a policy change happens, or interest rates rise, and their entire portfolio crashes.
The key is to create what we can call a Syndicate Portfolio
- Equities for growth.
- Gold as a hedge against inflation and geopolitical tension
- Real Estate/REITs for stability.
- Fixed Income for liquidity.
Diversification ensures that a crash in one sector doesn’t destroy your entire portfolio. You survive to fight another day. As the movie shows, those who put all their eggs in one basket (or trust only one traitor) usually end up eliminated. We are glad Dakait was, but we don’t want the same fate for our money, right?
Time to Write Your Own Script?
Dhurandhar is a hit because it taps into raw human emotions: revenge, nationalism, and the thrill of the chase. But the reason the characters succeed is different. Especially the Indian Intelligence team, who remove emotion from their execution. They plan, they wait, they adapt, and they strike only when the odds are in their favour. A very Warren Buffett way of doing things in the investing context.
As an investor, you are the director of your own financial movie. You will face volatility, market crashes and periods of boring consolidation. But if you stick to the script with its main components like patience, infiltration (SIPs), value spotting, and risk management, your financial story will in all probability have a blockbuster ending.
So, the next time you check your portfolio and see red, just channel your inner R. Madhavan, take a deep breath, and tell yourself: “Filhal… Nazar aur sabr.”
Disclaimer:
The purpose of this article is only to share interesting charts, data points, and thought-provoking opinions. It is NOT a recommendation. If you wish to consider an investment, you are strongly advised to consult your advisor. This article is strictly for educative purposes only.
Suhel Khan has been a passionate follower of the markets for over a decade. During this period, he was an integral part of a leading Equity Research organisation based in Mumbai as the Head of Sales & Marketing. Presently, he is spending most of his time dissecting the investments and strategies of the Super Investors of India.
Disclosure: The writer and his dependents do not hold the stocks/securities/funds discussed in this article.
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