​Dharmendra’s post-2000 journey from ‘Apne’, ‘Life in a… Metro’ to ‘Ikkis’​

Dharmendra featured in a reflective role shaped by memory, endurance, and lived experience. The film emphasised introspection over spectacle, allowing his performance to unfold with quiet authority. Critics discussed the portrayal as restrained and affecting, highlighting maturity and relevance. It reinforced his selective late career approach, demonstrating how veteran actors can anchor serious narratives within contemporary Hindi cinema through presence rather than scale and emotional clarity across generations of audiences.