Not Mohit Sharma, Dhurandhar inspired by one of the biggest covert operations? From Madhavan to Sanjay Dutt, who plays who

“I just feel that a screening could have been organised for the parents so that any misconceptions floating on social media could have been clarified. People who have lived their entire life with him are in a better position to tell if anything in the film replicates his life, rather than someone outside the ecosystem,” he told HT. If not Major Sharma’s anti-insurgency missions in Kashmir, then what really is the narrative of the film all about?

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Akshaye Khanna as ‘Lyari’s Robin Hood’ Rehman Dakait

According to every other online forum, Discord channel, and subreddit out there, it seems that a lot of people are betting on Operation Lyari being the story behind Dhurandhar. This real-life operation, conducted by the Pakistani government, was one of the biggest covert operations in the country’s history. A neglected part of Karachi, all through the British Raj, Lyari remained on the backburner even after independence. The first gangs settled in the area as early as the 1960s, and it soon became a haven for drug trafficking.

Akshaye Khanna as Lyari’s ‘Robin Hood’ Rehman Dakait.

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One of the early drug trafficking gangs was run by gangster Rehman Dakait’s father, Dadal Baloch. His gang gained a stronghold in the area and was only rivalled by two more gangs. One of those was run by Haji Lalu, whose son Arshad Pappu would go on to become Rehman’s biggest competitor. The scene in the trailer, where Akshay Khanna is brutally attacking a man in the middle of the street, might be a nod to something that actually happened. It’s said that Rehman killed someone close to Arshad in the middle of the town for everyone to see, further poisoning the relationship between the gangs.

While it’s unclear who is playing the role of Arshad, his rift with Rehman Dakait put Lyari through several gang wars, which resulted in innocent people losing their lives. This violence went on for years, as Arshad and Rehman kept taking people off each other’s boards, including family members and close confidants. Rehman was finally arrested in 2005 by police officer Chaudhary Aslam Khan. Even though Rehman escaped later on, he was gunned down in a police encounter in 2009.

Sanjay Dutt as Pak’s encounter specialist Chaudhary Aslam Khan

Sanjay Dutt as Pakistan’s ‘encounter specialist’ SP Chaudhary Aslam Khan.

The aforementioned man, Rehman Dakait, like many other gangsters in Lyari, was only watchful about one man, and that was police officer Chaudhary Aslam Khan. Played by Sanjay Dutt in Dhurandhar, the encounter specialist was put in charge of creating the Lyari Task Force, which was tasked with clearing the entire area of drug lords and petty criminals. Chaudhary was quite successful in this task and apprehended and killed many targets. Many of his methods, and especially the LTF’s affinity towards extrajudicial killings, landed Aslam in hot water many times.

After General Pervez Musharraf was finally removed from the government, Aslam changed his focus from just PPP to ridding Lyari of all gangsters. He locked horns with Rahman’s successor, Uzair Baloch, on several occasions as well. His effectiveness in wide-scale operation and his encounter rate made him a prime target for both Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). He even survived a suicide bomb attack on his home, which took the lives of 8 other people. Ultimately Khan was assassinated in 2014, while his convoy was travelling on the Karachi motorway.

Arjun Rampal as Major Iqbal, based on Al Qaeda mastermind Ilyas Kashmiri

Arjun Rampal as Ilyas Kashmiri.

The most dangerous man on this list is the man who is being played by Arjun Rampal. The heir apparent to Osama Bin Laden’s throne, Ilyas Kashmiri was one of the most brutal and cunning commanders of Al-Qaeda. There are some conflicting accounts about whether he ever served in the SSG (Special Services Group) or the Pakistani Army. He joined the Kashmiri conflict as part of HuJI. He led his own brigade called the Harkat-ul-Jihad Brigade, and his operatives were considered very deadly.

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Over several decades of active terrorism, Kashmiri was credited with abductions, murders of Indian soldiers, and many other jihadi activities. He was also involved in the 9/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2010 bombing in Pune, and the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. Even after his death in 2011, due to a drone attack conducted by the US, for more than a year no one had any confirmation that he had been killed, and Indian authorities still had him listed as a top threat to the country.

Madhavan as Ajay Sanyal, modelled on NSA Ajit Doval

Dhurandhar: R Madhavan as Ajay Sanyal, a character inspired by NSA Ajit Doval.

Actor R Madhavan is the first one on this list who is playing an Indian, and more importantly, a man on our side. His character is named Ajay Sanyal but his resemblance to Indian intelligence’s most well-known names, Ajit Doval, is uncanny. During Dhurandhar trailer launch, Madhavan also revealed that he was asked to make his lips thinner to ensure perfect likeness to Doval.

Doval joined the IPS in 1968 and later joined the Central Intelligence Service. While being an intelligence officer, Doval helped resolving almost 15 hijacking attacks, including the IC-814 in Kandahar. He was also a key cog in Operation Bluestar, as he infiltrated the terrorist group and made a list of their positions and weapons. He sabotaged them from within, giving the Indian forces the upper hand.

Later, Doval was appointed as the chief of the Intelligence Bureau and served the office from 2005. He is still the National Security Advisor of the country, making him the longest-serving NSA in history.

Dhurandhar is releasing on December 5. It stars Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, and Sara Arjun.