Dhurandhar Movie: How Much Of Rehman Dakait Is Real?
Why Everyone Is Asking About The Real Rehman
Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar has become one of the most talked‑about films of the year, driven not just by its spy-thriller plot but by a single character – Rehman, played with icy swagger by Akshaye Khanna.The Sher-e-Baloch song, the black Pathan suit and the now-viral dialogue have turned this on-screen don into a full-blown pop-culture moment.
But behind the memes and reels sits a serious question: how much of Dhurandhar’s Rehman is based on the real Lyari gangster Rehman Dakait, and where does the film bend facts for drama? This piece breaks down reel versus reported reality.
Character Comparison: Movie Rehman Vs Reported Reality
In the movie, Rehman is portrayed as the undisputed ruler of Lyari’s underworld, combining charm, cruelty and political reach, with Ranveer Singh’s spy character infiltrating his organisation from the shadows.He is shown as the central axis of power – feared by rivals, courted by politicians and worshipped by his men.
In real life, Rehman Dakait (Sardar Abdul Rehman Baloch) was indeed reported as one of Lyari’s most feared gang leaders in the 2000s, involved in extortion, arms and drug smuggling, and prolonged gang wars.However, law-enforcement voices and even Chaudhry Aslam’s widow have argued that his influence, while strong in certain pockets, did not make him the all-powerful, city-wide super-don that popular narratives sometimes suggest.
What Dhurandhar Changes For Drama
Timeline compression: The film condenses years of Lyari’s gang history, political shifts and police operations into a tight narrative window so that everything appears to revolve around a single, continuous battle between Rehman and the spy sent to bring him down.In reality, Lyari’s violence unfolded over decades, with multiple players and shifting alliances.
Character merging: Several real figures seem blended into fewer cinematic roles. Elements of Rehman, his cousin Uzair Baloch and other Lyari actors appear streamlined into the Rehman–Uzair duo, while Sanjay Dutt’s cop character takes heavy inspiration from encounter specialist Chaudhry Aslam without following his life story step by step.
Violence portrayal: The movie stages stylised confrontations, dance-floor entries and choreographed brutality designed for maximum visual impact.Actual reporting on Lyari describes more chaotic, prolonged and often less “cinematic” violence – random gun battles, sudden shutdowns, and years of tension rather than only set-piece massacres.
What Matches Reported Reality
Lyari as the backdrop: The film is accurate in depicting Lyari as a historically neglected but politically important neighbourhood, long associated with gangs, poverty and a strong base for the Pakistan Peoples Party.Media reports confirm that the area suffered from chronic underdevelopment and became a hub for gang activity and informal power structures.
Gang dominance and fear: Dhurandhar’s portrayal of residents living under the shadow of gang bosses reflects accounts of how extortion, armed patrols and sudden clashes reportedly controlled daily life.People avoiding certain streets, shops closing during tension and a culture of silence about who really ran which lane are all echoed in both the film and news coverage.
Links to politics: The movie suggests proximity between the don and political figures, hinting at a mutually useful relationship. Real-life reporting shows photographs of Rehman with PPP figures and mentions allegations that sections of the political class benefitted from or tolerated Lyari gangs, even though top leaders and police have officially denied protective patronage.
Where The Film Steps Away From Fact
Dhurandhar frames Rehman as the almost singular mastermind behind everything happening in Lyari, which simplifies a far more fragmented reality.Karachi’s underworld has involved many gangs, rival bosses and state actors, and even in Lyari, power shifted between factions like those of Rehman and Arshad Pappu over time.
The inner psychology and personal scenes – party sequences, long monologues, specific “codes of honour” – are inventions or dramatic extrapolations, not documented fact.Similarly, the exact infiltration arc of Ranveer Singh’s character is a thriller device rather than a direct lift from any single intelligence operation reported in the public record.
Disclaimer: Dhurandhar Is A Fictionalised Account
While Dhurandhar clearly draws inspiration from the real history of Lyari, Rehman Dakait, Uzair Baloch and Chaudhry Aslam, it remains a fictionalised account designed for entertainment.Names, timelines, scenes and relationships have been altered, compressed or dramatised, and many details of the characters’ private lives, dialogues and specific actions are products of scriptwriting, not direct transcripts from history.
For viewers, the safest approach is to treat the film as a gateway into curiosity: a reason to read deeper into Lyari’s real gang wars, political context and policing challenges, rather than as a documentary of what Rehman Dakait “actually did” in Karachi.
