Even critics of the politics admitted Akshaye Khanna’s performance as Rahman Dakait had undeniable aura, menace, and chilling control. Scenes went viral for a reason.
Ranveer Singh and supporting turns, including Sanjay Dutt as Chaudhry Aslam, earned grudging respect for elevating a genre often dismissed as shallow propaganda.
The result: no single “Lyari verdict.” Widespread offense at the stereotype, paired with cross-border admiration for technical excellence and acting.
Real Rehman Dakait vs Bollywood Fantasy
Bollywood’s Dhurandhar glamorizes Lyari’s gangster Rehman Dakait as a stylish, dominant “Sher-e-Baloch” don—complete with viral dance scenes, swagger, and audience whistles.
The real Abdul Rehman Baloch (1976/1980–2009) tells a far darker story.
He rose in Lyari amid brutal gang wars involving drugs, extortion, arms, and kidnappings. Crime started early—stabbing at around 13, murders as a teenager. He was widely reported to have murdered his own mother, Khadija, in 1995—shot, strangled, or hung, depending on accounts—with police claiming she was a police informant or linked to rivals. The claim remains debated, but it cemented his feared reputation.
He ruled Lyari alongside cousin Uzair Baloch, enjoyed political cover through the Peoples’ Aman Committee, and was killed in a controversial police encounter in 2009—some claiming it was staged.
There was no icon status. No charm. No romance. Just fear.
Pakistani critics flagged clear inaccuracies: over-glorification of a ruthless killer, Lyari portrayed as a pure terror hub, cultural absurdities like characters constantly saying “Adaab” (no one in Karachi does), and the fantasy of Indian intelligence freely infiltrating and recruiting deep inside Lyari.
