She quit her 9-5 job to become a filmmaker. After remarks on Dhurandhar, Dhadak 2 director Shazia Iqbal makes her Instagram private

Filmmaker Shazia Iqbal is currently making headlines following her remarks on Ranveer Singh’s 2025 blockbuster Dhurandhar. Shazia, who made her feature film directorial debut with the romance-drama Dhadak 2, starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri, drew sharp reactions on social media after sharing her views on the film. As the backlash intensified, she made her Instagram account private, while screenshots of her posts continued to circulate across platforms.

While the director's did not name the film directly, her comments were widely interpreted as a critique of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, one of last year's biggest commercial successes. The episode has sparked a broader debate around creative freedom, ideological disagreement, and the growing culture of online outrage in the film industry.

What Shazia Iqbal said about Dhurandhar?

The controversy began when Shazia Iqbal shared a series of Instagram stories expressing strong disapproval of a recent film she had watched. Referring to it as “sinister,” she suggested that the film’s messaging was deliberately provocative. In her post, she implied that the narrative promoted hatred and violence, even as it was being praised for its technical finesse and background score.



Her remarks, though indirect, were quickly linked to Dhurandhar, the Ranveer Singh-led film directed by Aditya Dhar. Within hours, screenshots of her story began circulating on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), prompting a flood of reactions. While some users supported her right to voice an opinion, many criticised her sharply, questioning her credibility and mocking her work. Amid the growing trolling, Iqbal made her Instagram profile private.

From architecture to cinema: Who is Shazia Iqbal?

Beyond the current controversy, Shazia Iqbal’s journey in cinema has been shaped by persistence and personal conviction. Trained as an architect, she has often spoken about her discomfort with a conventional 9-to-5 desk job. In an interview Cinema Express, she recalled realising during her internship days that a routine office career was not for her, even though she had not initially planned to work in films.

Her entry into the industry came through production design, influenced by a college seminar that highlighted the connection between architectural spaces and cinematic worlds. Over the years, she worked on several big projects, including Sacred Games, while gradually gravitating towards writing and direction. She has said that her shift towards storytelling happened organically, as she found herself increasingly drawn to writing scripts alongside demanding shoot schedules.


That journey lead towards her directorial debut Dhadak 2 in 2025. The film, starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri, was a remake of the acclaimed Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal. Co-produced by Zee Studios, Dharma Productions, and Cloud 9 Pictures, the film tackled themes of caste, identity, and social inequality. While Dhadak 2 did not perform strongly at the box office and received mixed reviews, it positioned Iqbal as a filmmaker interested in socially driven narratives.

Born in Patna and raised in a family with creative influences, her father Zahid Iqbal worked in radio and on television productions, Shazia Iqbal has often said she wants her films to make audiences feel seen. She has expressed hope that her work resonates with viewers who rarely find themselves represented on screen. Stay tuned!