Pakistani actors, critics claim Dhurandhar has factual inaccuracies but call Aditya Dhar film ‘fantastic’

Pakistan reacted to Dhurandhar

Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar triggered a fierce debate in India and even beyond the border where the story is set; Pakistani critics and social media users claimed that the film had numerous factual inaccuracies and that the makers took creative liberties. This high-octane spy thriller, released on December 5, is directed and written by Dhar. Starring Ranveer Singh in the lead role, the film is about secret intelligence operations set against the backdrop of geopolitical and terrorist events such as the Kandahar flight hijacking, the 2001 Parliament Attack and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

The film, which sparked polarizing reactions from many critics and individuals in India, is mostly set in Karachi’s Lyari town, known for its history of gang wars and violent turf wars. Now Pakistani critics, actors and content creators have also joined the conversation.

Omair Alavi, a well-known film critic and writer, said that although the film was well made with good performances, its portrayal of Karachi and the events of 2007-2008 was not accurate. “Dhurandhar is a well-made film, it is fluid and the acting is also good, but there are many factual inaccuracies about Karachi and the period of 2007-2008 shown in the film. Our filmmakers are not willing to make such propaganda films because it is a huge financial risk, because in the past when such films were made with patriotic tones, they failed at the box office,” he said.

According to Alavi, there are very few movie theaters left in the country, tickets are very expensive and people are happier by watching quality TV series at home. “As a critic, I can point out many inaccuracies in the film. But at the end of the day, does the average moviegoer in India know or even care? For him, it is a smooth action movie with big stars and Pakistanis are not good neighbors and that’s why it became a hit,” he added.

Drama actor Qamar Reza said that unlike India, propaganda films made in Pakistan are always rejected by the public. “When some propaganda or biopic films were made in Pakistan, they were made on low budgets and were poorly made, so no one saw them,” he said, claiming that the idea for Dhurandhar was inspired by a 2022 Pakistani film based on real-life cop Chaudhary Aslam, who was killed by a car bomb in 2014.

In the film, Sanjay Dutt plays the role of Chaudhary Aslam, while Akshaye Khanna plays real-life gangster Rehman Dakait. Arjun Rampal plays Major Iqbal of ISI, a character based on terrorist Ilyas Kashmir, and R Madhavan essays the role of Indian spy chief Ajay Sanyal.

Content creator Bilal Hassan, better known as @mystapaki, summed up the conflicting reaction perfectly. “Dhurandhar has been done very, very well. The action scenes are amazing, Akshaye Khanna’s acting was great. I wanted to feel sad about it but I couldn’t,” he said. However, he had problems with many anti-Pakistan dialogues in the film. “If that’s not propaganda, I don’t know what is,” he said.

He said that politics will continue between the two countries, but no one in Pakistan wants to own this situation. He said he grew up seeing Lyari gang wars. “Chaudhry Aslam’s house was in front of my school. The windows of my school were broken when a bomb exploded on his house. This story hit so close to home for me. We will not tell this story. Why? Because our politicians will get dirty. Our government will get dirty. So instead we choose to green light only ridiculous scenarios.”

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