Dhurandhar fashion breakdown: Inspiration behind Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal and Akshaye Khanna’s iconic looks

When it comes to wardrobe choices in cinema is rarely about clothes alone, it’s about psychology, power, lineage and mood. ‘Dhurandhar’ is the live example of it; the designers at Divani, working closely with costume designer Smriti Chauhan, built an aesthetic world where every stitch carried the weight of the power-driven narrative. Their work on Arjun Rampal, Akshaye Khanna and Ranveer Singh shows exactly how costume can deepen a character long before a single line is spoken.

Arjun Rampal, Akshaye Khanna and Ranveer Singh’s outfits from the wedding sequence in ‘Dhurandhar’ are no less than iconic. Let’s break down the looks.

Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal: Precision, restraint and quiet authority

Arjun Rampal, as Major Iqbal, never needs volume to draw attention to himself, which reflects in his clothes. His sense also reflects elegance in a subtle manner.

According to Divani’s official Instagram handle, “For Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal, the idea was to keep his look sharp, clean, and understated, reflecting the composure of his character. The colours were kept minimal and the silhouettes clean, allowing his presence to speak for itself. The embroidery was deliberately restricted to the collar to maintain a sharp, understated aesthetic.”

Every element is intentional: the muted palette, the disciplined structure, the near-military clarity of line. The result is a look that doesn’t shout; it steadies the frame. Major Iqbal’s uniform represents an extension of his poise, which symbolises the calm that comes before the storm.

Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait: Textured darkness and controlled unpredictability

If Rampal’s Iqbal is the stillness, Akshaye Khanna’s Rehman Dakait is the undercurrent, quiet, volatile, darkly magnetic. Divani built his wardrobe around that electricity.

“For Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait, the look was crafted to capture his quiet intensity and raw authority. The palette stayed deep with textures that reflected the grit of his world. Embellishments were kept minimal and purposeful, restricted to a bold crest featuring a tiger motif, allowing his presence and the character’s underlying unpredictability to speak for itself.”

The tiger crest is the single exception to restraint, a symbolic flash of danger against an otherwise shadowed palette. The textures give the clothing weight, grounding Rehman in the world he rules, while the minimalism keeps the focus on Akshaye’s famously expressive stillness.

Ranveer Singh as Hamza Ali Mazari: Heritage reinterpreted for a modern epic

Ranveer Singh’s Hamza Ali Mazari, on the other hand, enters Dhurandhar draped in history, not in costume, but in lineage. For him, Divani and Smriti Chauhan turned to nineteenth-century royal robes for inspiration.

“Inspired by the elaborate robes of the nineteenth century, Divani, along with ‘Dhurandar’s’ Costume Designer Smriti Chauhan, came up with a reinterpretation of a ‘khilat’ once presented to the royal family of Patiala. The look blends heritage with intention, making it feel both meaningful and seamlessly placed within the story, almost as if it were crafted for Hamza himself.”

This is couture with narrative depth, the kind that immediately tells you where a character comes from and what he carries with him. On Ranveer, the reinterpretation gains theatrical ease: reverent yet modern, ornate but never overwhelming, a garment that looks inherited, not fabricated. A world built in fabric, detail and intention. Together, these three costumes demonstrate the power of thoughtful menswear in storytelling. Major Iqbal’s restraint, Rehman Dakait’s shadowed grit and Hamza Mazari’s regal heritage form a visual triad, subtle, commanding and deeply cinematic. In Dhurandhar, the clothes don’t just support the characters.

Also read: Akshaye Khanna’s ‘Dhurandhar’ look sparks interest in ultra-thin hair patches: How they work