Dhurandhar was born in Kolhapur (a district in Maharashtra). His father understood and supported his son's extraordinary artistic talents and put him under the tutorship of famous painter Abalal Rehman. In one of his trips to Mumbai the artist came across the JJ School of Art and joined the institution to pursue his art studies. He was under the guidance of John Griffiths between 1890-95. Dhurandhar later spent most of his years teaching at the Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, and retired as Vice-Principal.

The study course in JJ School of Art focused on academic realism where a lot of significance was laid on the correct representation of the subject. Hence the stress lay on acquiring skills in sketching and modelling after which the artist could choose to paint in oil or watercolour. Dhurandhar was influenced by Raja Ravi Varma's style of combining classical Western academic training with traditional Indian craftsmanship. He painted a lot of figurative works and studies of people and excelled in his drawings of the women figures, especially Maharashtrian women in their traditional attires and working in their kitchens, in the markets, celebrating festivals, attending weddings, etc. and won many awards when he was still studying.