Dhurandhar's Rakesh Bedi reacts on Toxic being postponed due to US-Iran conflict

As Dhurandhar: The Revenge gets ready for release on March 19, actor Rakesh Bedi, who returns as Jameel Jamali, notes that the film has not been postponed by the US-Iran conflict, unlike Toxic. He also addresses reports that suggest his character is based on Pakistani politician Nabil Gabol.

Veteran actor Rakesh Bedi, who plays the sly politician Jameel Jamali in the Dhurandhar franchise, is now gearing up for the second and final film of the series, Dhurandhar: The Revenge.

Bedi is upbeat about the box office prospects of the sequel, which is scheduled to open on March 19. Speaking exclusively to India Today, however, he had a cheeky jibe while talking of Yash's Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups being pushing to June 4 from March 19, when it was originally scheduled to clash at the box office with Dhurandhar: The Revenge.

On the makers of Toxic citing tension owing to the US-Israel conflict in the Middle East as reason for postponing their film from March 19 to June 4, he replied: "Tension toh humare liye bhi hai Middle East main, par hum toh aa rahe hai (the tension exists for us, too, in the Middle East, but we will release our film)."

Earlier the first film of the franchise, Dhurandhar, hit a road block while trying to release theatrically in the region on its stipulated release date, December 5, 2025. The film was banned across six Gulf countries -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- after authorities reportedly objected to its message, reportedly deemed anti-Pakistan in nature.

Now, another controversy has surfaced, with Pakistani politician Nabil Gabol expressing dissatisfaction over Bedi’s character Jameel Jamali in Dhurandhar. Gabol has reportedly claimed that Bedi's Jamali resembles him. Responding to the claim, Bedi firmly clarified that the character was never intended to represent any specific individual.

“I didn’t portray him at all. I don’t understand why he is identifying himself with the character. I simply adopted a particular look for the role. Now if someone feels that my appearance resembles him, what can I really do about it? It’s not my fault. Perhaps because of the wig and styling he might feel there is a slight resemblance. That’s his interpretation. But there isn’t much we can do about that,” Bedi said.