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NBA halftime gets ‘Dhurandhar’ Punjabi energy in California
The Bay Area dancers took the Indian film’s soundtrack to the Warriors-Timberwolves game.
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Anushka Pathak - Fri, 09, Jan 2026
- 11:02 EST
- 157
Screengrab from the Bhangra performance by ‘Bhangra Empire’ at the NBA halftime / Courtesy: YouTube/Bhangra Empire
Bollywood hit film ‘Dhurandhar’ found a new stage far from cinemas when its title track powered a bhangra performance at an NBA halftime show in California.
The performance took place at a Golden State Warriors-Minnesota Timberwolves game on Dec. 12, 2025, at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The performance was delivered by Bay Area-based Bhangra Empire, whose dancers took over the court in traditional Punjabi attire, executing synchronized choreography to the film’s title track.
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Clips from the halftime show circulated widely on X. One post said the NBA “sure knows how to have a Dhurandhar halftime,” using the film title, which translates to “formidable,” to frame the moment.
.@NBA sure knows how to have a Dhurandhar halftime! pic.twitter.com/rOPq0XfSJm
— Rohit Sharma (@DcWalaDesi) January 8, 2026
Others praised the visibility of South Asian culture on an NBA stage.
Composed by Shashwat Sachdev and featuring Hanumankind and Jasmine Sandlas, the song is drawn from ‘Dhurandhar,’ a Hindi-language spy thriller directed by Aditya Dhar and released on Dec. 5, 2025.
The film stars Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh alongside Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, and R. Madhavan and was produced by RSVP Movies and Jio Studios.
The film recorded strong box office returns, grossing an estimated US$150 million (INR 1,265 crore) worldwide and about US$120 million (INR 992.74 crore) domestically as of Jan. 8, making it the highest-grossing Indian release of 2025. It received mixed-to-positive reviews, and a sequel is scheduled for release in 2026.
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