Amid Dhurandhar 2 propaganda row, Feroz Khan's tribute to Sanjay Gandhi goes viral

A video preceding the title credits of late actor-director Feroz Khan's 1980 film Qurbani featuring a tribute to late politician Sanjay Gandhi has resurfaced on the internet. Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was mentioned in the video as well. The internet users compared it to the ongoing debate over director Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which is being accused of promoting an agenda.

Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash on June 23, 1980. He was 33.

In the video, we can hear a voice-over by Feroz Khan, calling Indira Gandhi the 'Iron Lady of our nation' and 'Mother of our great nation'. Khan addressed Sanjay Gandhi as the 'Sleeping prince' in the voice-over. The video also revealed that the makers had decided to offer the earnings from the premiere shows in Bangalore and Delhi to the then government in memory of Sanjay Gandhi.

X users commented on the viral Sanjay Gandhi tribute video and billed it propaganda in the 80s. A social media user, while sharing the video, wrote, "Dear GenZ, This is the beginning of the 1980 Hindi movie Qurbani You should see this I have no further comments (sic)."

One person wrote, "Peak level propaganda. They called Sanjay Gandhi Prince of India. Without Jan Sangh, this would've ended up in NCERT text books (sic)."

Another user commented, "Propaganda before propaganda got famous (sic)." Another social media user, while defending Feroz Khan, wrote, "Well, I have something to say. This is the same guy who openly insulted pak while visiting there as well. That's why I respect him. And read up what kind of person Sanjay Gandhi was and you will look at this differently (sic)."

One comment read, "This movie released 3 days before the plane crash. And it's normal if some theatres decided to convey last tributes to a leader of his stature. At that time we didn't have social media (sic)."

Qurbani was an action-drama which also featured actors Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Amjad Khan, Aruna Irani, Shakti Kapoor, Amrish Puri and others in key roles. The discourse around the anti-terror theme and Indo-Pak tensions depicted in Dhurandhar: The Revenge has left viewers divided on its politics.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge features actors Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Sara Arjun, Danish Pandor and Rakesh Bedi in key roles. It is co-produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios.

The film had a theatrical release on March 19, 2026.