- By Sidhi Agarwall
- Tue, 17 Mar 2026 03:55 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Aditya Dhar, the director behind one of the highest-grossing Hindi films, did not originally plan to enter the film industry. Interestingly, he once dreamed of becoming a cricketer before life took a different turn. Today, Dhar is widely recognised for his work in films like Uri: The Surgical Strike and Dhurandhar. However, his journey into filmmaking began only after his cricket ambitions did not work out.
Veteran filmmaker Priyadarshan recently shared insights into Aditya Dhar’s early struggles. Speaking in an interview, he revealed, "He was a cricketer but he could not get into the Under-19 team because of some political influence so he was moved out. He was very disappointed sitting at home. Someone called him to see a film, and that was Gardish. He said he saw Gardish and said, 'This is something I want to do and I came to Mumbai'."
As per reports, Aditya Dhar was close to making it into the Under-19 cricket team but missed out on the opportunity. This setback left him deeply disappointed. However, watching the film Gardish changed his perspective and inspired him to pursue a career in cinema. His journey in Bollywood was not easy either. Dhar faced several challenges, including lack of recognition and industry politics. According to Priyadarshan, Dhar had written dialogues for multiple films but did not receive proper credit for his work at the time.
Despite these struggles, Dhar continued to work hard and eventually made his directorial debut with Uri: The Surgical Strike in 2019. The film was a massive success and established him as a talented filmmaker. He followed this with Dhurandhar, which reportedly crossed Rs 1300 crore at the box office, making it one of the biggest hits in Hindi cinema.
Interestingly, Dhar has often spoken about his love for cricket. In one of his social media posts, he described cricket as "the best stress buster in the world", showing that his passion for the sport remains strong even today. Now, the filmmaker is gearing up for the release of his next project, Dhurandhar 2, which is set to hit theatres soon.