Viral: Dhurandhar's Madhavan, Arjun Rampal hope Pak hosts Indian awards in old video

An old clip, featuring R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal among other Bollywood stars, shows them hoping Pakistan gets to host an Indian awards show. The video has gone viral amid the success of Dhurandhar: The Revenge.

In Short

• An old video of actors wishing for Pakistan to host an Indian awards gala has gone viral
• R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal among celebrities seen commenting
• Madhavan and Rampal feature in Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar films

Amid the success of Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar: The Revenge, even as controversy rages on around the film's content, an old video has gone viral where the film's actors R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal hope a popular Indian awards gala is held in Pakistan some day.

The undated clip features the two actors among several Bollywood celebrities who are asked at a previous edition of the IIFA Awards: "Have you ever thought about hosting IIFA in Pakistan?"

The video shows a bevy of celebrities, including Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Asha Bhosle, Bobby Deol, Sonakshi Sinha, Shilpa Shetty, Sonu Sood, Gulshan Grover and Kabir Bedi, fielding the question. Their reactions ranged from expressing their love for Pakistan and its people, and the desire to see the awards gala being hosted in Pakistan one day.

Social media particularly noted the responses of R Madhavan, who plays Director of the Intelligence Bureau Ajay Sanyal, and Arjun Rampal, who essays ISI operative Major Iqbal in the recent Dhurandhar films.

Watch the video here:

Madhavan said, "Yes, I would be the first to go. I just want to say to my Pakistani brothers and sisters, your love always reaches me through Twitter and Facebook. It makes me very happy that you watch us and like us. I'm truly touched that we receive so much love from across the border."

Rampal also welcomed the idea. "The heart definitely wishes that IIFA should go to Pakistan at least once," he said.

Among other celebrities who answered the question, Anil Kapoor said, "I want to come Pakistan, invite me! Please."

Kher said, "The relationship between politicians may not be good, but the people there and here are very kind. There's a lot of love between them."

Deol said, "Zaroor hoga, log pagal ho jaayenge, isse zyaada shor sharaba hoga (It will definitely happen. People will go crazy; there will be even more noise and hype than this)."

About Dhurandhar: The Revenge

Dhurandhar: The Revenge also features actors Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Danish Pandor, Gaurav Gera, Manav Gohil, Udaybir Sandhu and others in key roles. The film is co-produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge is directed by Aditya Dhar. The film had a theatrical release on March 19, 2026, and has emerged a blockbuster, just like Dhurandhar, the first film of the series. While Dhurandhar earned a worldwide gross of more than Rs 1307 crore, the sequel has already minted over Rs 1671 crore globally within 22 days, per Sacnilk. Both films feature in the top 5 list of Indian hits worldwide.

The report is based on an individual social media post. India Today cannot verify the source or authenticity of the viral clip.

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