Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar Revisits One of Hindi Cinema’s Most Beloved Qawwalis.

The trailer of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, backed by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, has ignited tremendous excitement online, not only for its sprawling cast led by Ranveer Singh along with Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan and Arjun Rampal, but also for the unexpected musical homage tucked into its final minutes. As the four-minute promo hurtles toward its climax, a familiar Qawwali begins to build, immediately catching the attention of cinephiles and music lovers. The film’s team has chosen to revisit “Na To Karavan Ki Talash Hai”, one of the most celebrated Qawwalis in Hindi cinema’s history, originally from the 1960 classic Barsaat Ki Raat.

The moment the song appears in the trailer, social media lit up with posts celebrating its return. Among those expressing delight was filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh, who praised both the trailer and the nostalgic musical touch. He commended the fact that such a gem from the past had been brought back into the mainstream conversation.

And what a gem it is. First heard in Barsaat Ki Raat, the Qawwali appears as part of a legendary 12-minute sequence that is still remembered as one of the genre’s finest cinematic showcases. The piece was composed by Roshan, grandfather of Hrithik Roshan, with lyrics by the incomparable Sahir Ludhianvi. Its powerful vocal ensemble—Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, Sudha Malhotra, S. D. Batish and Mohammed Rafi—helped give it an emotional and musical depth rarely matched. The film upon its release, Barsaat Ki Raat became a major box office blockbuster, becoming the second biggest hit after K.Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam.

By incorporating this Qawwali into Dhurandhar, Dhar seems to be setting the tone of his new film, lending to it a quality of eeriness that always ties us to our past. Rumoured to be set against the backdrop of Operation Lyari, which is known to be the longest-running covert mission targeting gang networks in Pakistan, the film explores the moral complexity of a real-world crackdown.

Produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Lokesh Dhar, and Director Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar releases worldwide on December 5, 2025.