Updated on: Dec 27, 2025 10:50 am IST
Akshaye Khanna plays Rehman Dakait in Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller Dhurandhar, which is based on the Lyari gang wars of 2000s.
Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar may be a work of fiction, but it is one that is rooted in reality. The spy thriller is set in Pakistan’s Lyari, a suburb of Karachi that was infamous for its gang violence in the early 2000s. The film stars Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait, based on the real-life gangster of the same name. While there have been several discussions about the film’s depiction of real-life figures, now a friend of the real Rehman has praised the film.
Rehman Dakait’s friend reviews Dhurandhar
In a video shared widely online, Habib Jan Baloch, a lawyer and Baloch nationalist, can be seen speaking with a reporter who asks him about his opinions of his friend’s depiction in Dhurandhar. Saying that he has watched the film twice, Baloch adds, “I won’t talk about the character. This is what happens in films. Had there been a few more songs, it would have been better. But I need to say that what Pakistan did not do, India’s Bollywood did. Thank you, Bollywood!”
‘Rehman was a hero’
However, Baloch says that contrary to what is shown in the film, Rehman was not a villain but a hero. “He was a hero, a good man. Pakistan is indebted to him. Had Rehman and Uzair Baloch not been there, then Pakistan’s face would have been like Bangladesh today, or even worse,” he argues. The lawyer, who was friends with Rehman two decades ago, added that the film was not against any party in his opinion. Members of the Pakistan People’s Party have criticised Dhurandhar, saying the film portrays their party in an unfavourable light.
About Dhurandhar
Dhurandhar stars Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy infiltrating Rehman’s gang in Lyari in the 2000s. It also features Sanjay Dutt as SP Aslam, the real cop who headed the Lyari Task Force. Dhurandhar also stars R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal in key roles. The film has been a massive success at the box office, collecting over ₹1000 crore worldwide, and becoming the fourth-highest-grossing Bollywood film ever.
