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Ranveer Singh‘s much-awaited movie ‘Dhurandhar’ made it to the big screens on Friday and it has broken the records of one of 2025’s top rankers, securing its place as this year’s highest opener. The Aditya Dhar movie is inspired by multiple true events, including the Kandahar Hijack and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The cast of Dhurandar includes Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi, among others.
Dhurandhar inspired by Major Mohit Sharma’s life?
When the teaser of Dhurandhar came out, it was believed that Ranveer Singh was playing real-life hero Late Major Mohit Sharma AC SM. But director Dhar dismissed all speculations after he said that Ranveer’s character is not based on Major Sharma. The late soldier’s parents moved to Delhi High Court, requesting a stay on the film. On the court’s orders, the Central Board of Film Certification watched the film and gave it a go-ahead, saying that there are no similarities in the film to the soldier’s life. Later, Major Sharma’s elder brother Madhur Sharma said they accept the decision but wished the film was shown to his parents too, according to a report in Indian Express.
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“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?
Dhurandar inspired by covet operation?
Across online forums, Discord channels, and subreddits, one theory has emerged: Dhurandhar might be inspired by Operation Lyari — one of Pakistan’s largest covert missions. The real Lyari, a neglected pocket of Karachi since the British Raj, had become a breeding ground for gangs by the 1960s. Drug trafficking flourished, and among the earliest kingpins was Dadal Baloch, father of the infamous gangster Rehman Dakait. His gang dominated the area, rivalled only by two others — including one led by Haji Lalu, whose son Arshad Pappu would become Rehman’s fiercest enemy.The trailer moment where Akshaye Khanna’s character viciously attacks a man in the street may be referencing a notorious real incident. According to local lore, Rehman once killed a close associate of Arshad in broad daylight, an act that pushed an already tense rivalry into a full-blown blood feud.
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While the series hasn’t revealed who plays Arshad, history shows that the Rehman–Arshad conflict plunged Lyari into years of violent gang wars. Innocent residents were often caught in the crossfire as both men targeted each other’s allies, family members, and inner circles. Rehman was eventually arrested in 2005 by celebrated police officer Chaudhary Aslam Khan. He later escaped custody but was killed in a police encounter in 2009.
Cast line-up of Dhurandar
Sanjay Dutt will be seen playing the role of Pakistan’s renowned encounter specialist, Chaudhry Aslam Khan, who formed the Lyari Task Force and eliminated several major criminals. Due to his tough approach, he became a target of terrorists and was assassinated in 2014.
Arjun Rampal is playing a character inspired by terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri, who was considered a senior commander of Al-Qaeda and was accused of involvement in numerous terrorist attacks and assassinations. He was killed in a US drone strike in 2011.
R. Madhavan plays Ajay Sanyal in the film, a character said to be inspired by India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Doval played a key role in several major terrorist operations, including missions like the Kandahar hijacking and Operation Bluestar.
