Why Is Dhurandhar Censored On Netflix? All Possible Reasons Behind Reduced Runtime, Poor OTT Quality

Dhurandhar created a tsunami at the box office upon its theatrical release on December 5, 2025. While the Aditya Dhar directorial starring Ranveer Singh went on to cross Rs 1300 crore gross worldwide, those who couldn't catch it on the big screen waited eagerly for its OTT release. The spy thriller finally started streaming on Netflix on January 30, 2026. This, despite the movie running in some cinema halls at certain centres. But, given the digital release rules and window, Dhurandhar had to keep its streaming date. Though fans were initially elated at the OTT arrival, the mood soon turned sour for a certain reason. Dhurandhar, also starring Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Danish Pandor, Saumya Tandon, Gaurav

Gera and others, landed on Netflix with a shortened version.

Dhurandhar is shorter on Netflix

On Friday, social media got flooded with reactions about Dhurandhar arriving 9-minutes short of the actual theatrical runtime. While the original duration stands at 3 hours 34 minutes, making it one of the longest Bollywood films to date, its stretch on the streaming platform came down to 3 hours and 25 minutes. This 9-minute difference created a furore with angry reactions from viewers who expressed disappointment over the film getting edited for the OTT.

Muted or deleted dialogues reduced the runtime?

This brings us to the debate whether Dhurandhar was actually reduced given the CBFC's recent order of muting two words and a dialogue referring to Baloch. Point to note is how Sanjay Dutt's character SP Chaudhary Aslam's dialogues have been altered. At 1 hour 55 minutes, he makes two references to the Baloch community, comparing it with a "crocodile" which are now muted on OTT. Infact, the new version of the movie has been playing in the theatres since January 1, 2026. The revised censor certificate of Dhurandhar reportedly quotes a duration of 3 hours 28 minutes 56 seconds. So many assumed that this had cut the runtime even on the OTT.A user wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "#Dhurandhar on Netflix with muted dialogues + censored abuses. If OTT isn’t giving us the uncut version, who is? Unrated my foot. Expected the uncensored version." Another one added, "What's wrong with #Dhurandhar 's Netflix version?! There are nearly 10 minutes reduction in duration and so many scenes look different from theatrical version. Look at this for an example. Thank god watched it 2 times in cinemas! #DhurandharOnNetflix #Netflix"

Audience were basically pointing at certain words which had been either muted or removed, bringing down the runtime. An angry user posted, "Why the f*ck Dhurandhar is so heavily censored on Netflix‽ Despite holding an 'A' (Adults only) rating, the streaming version features muted dialogues — censored swear words, abuses, and in some cases, even crucial dialogues are muted, and approximately 10 minutes of edited (cut scenes) compared to the theatrical. Who are you trying to please @NetflixIndia? We are not watching it for free on Doordarshan. Re-release Dhurandhar without any censoring ASAP."

Issue with colour grading, audio

Many even pointed at the film not being at par in terms of its colour grading, sound and video quality, blaming Netflix for the poor reception.

Matter of frames per second projection

But, is this the sole reason behind a shorter version of Dhurandhar streaming on Netflix? In all possibilities, there could be a second reason, and that pertains to its technical aspect with projection.

According to some viewers, Dhurandhar seems to be running a tad faster than its theatrical version. This means on the streamer, it has a faster frame rate. An X user explained, "Dhurandhar is not 10mins Cut on Netflix from its Theatrical Version. The difference is because Netflix playback uses 25fps while movies are generally shot at 24 fps. So this means your playback at Netflix will be 4% faster overall. This translates to ~9 minutes shorter runtime."Another viewer assumed the deletion of ads that play at the beginning of a movie was the reason. "Apparently it's a fine-tuned version with crisper editing and without the smoking ads."Multiple elements seem to have brought down its runtime, leaving viewers unhappy about the screening of one of the biggest films of 2025. Though the makers have not confirmed anything as yet, audience now hopes Netflix either rectifies its release or learns from the loopholes for future releases, if at all Dhurandhar 2 also lands on its platform.