The loudest whistles in Dhurandhar don't erupt for a hero's slow-motion entry or a punchline-loaded monologue. They arrive when Akshaye Khanna quietly walks into frame as Rehman Dakait, a villain whose very presence seems to electrify the theatre.
It's an unsettling kind of applause, one that underlines how cinema often blurs the line between fascination and fear.
Because while Aditya Dhar's film presents Rehman Dakait as a chilling antagonist, the real-life story behind the character is far more brutal, complex and disturbing than fiction can comfortably hold.
Rehman Dakait Born Into Crime In Lyari
Rehman Dakait, born Abdul Rehman in 1976, grew up in Lyari, one of Karachi's oldest and poorest neighbourhoods - an area long synonymous with crime, gang wars and a deep-rooted crime-police nexus.
According to a BBC report, he was the son of Dad Mohammad and his second wife, Khadija. His family was already entrenched in the underworld.
Dad Mohammad and his brothers ran a drug trade and were locked in violent rivalries with gangs led by Iqbal, alias Baboo Dakait, and Haji Lalu. Extortion rackets ran parallel to the drug business, and turf wars were inevitable.
Former Lyari SP Fayyaz Khan told the BBC, "Among the many gangs involved in the same business, there was rivalry as well as territorial conflict. These rivalries often turned into bloody clashes. In one such clash, Rahman Baloch's uncle, Taj Mohammad, was killed by the rival Baboo Dakait gang."
Violence wasn't an aberration in Rehman's world; it was an inheritance.
A Childhood Lost To Bloodshed
Rehman Dakait's descent into crime began shockingly early. At just 13, he stabbed and injured a man who stopped him from bursting crackers in Lyari. Two years later, he escalated from violence to murder, killing two rival drug peddlers after a dispute.
The most disturbing chapter of his life unfolded in 1995. Months after escaping police custody, Rehman shot dead his own mother, Khadija, inside their home. He told the police that he killed her because "she became a police informant".
However, it is widely believed that he suspected her of having a relationship with a rival gang member, a detail that Dhurandhar does not shy away from depicting.
Arrest, Escape And The Making Of A Ganglord
In 1995, Rehman was arrested for possession of weapons and drugs. He spent around two and a half years in jail before pulling off a dramatic escape while being transported from Karachi jail to court. He fled to Balochistan, where he began rebuilding his criminal empire with renewed ferocity.
By the early 2000s, Rehman Dakait had emerged as one of Lyari's most powerful ganglords. By 2006, he had amassed immense wealth, properties and political influence. He married three times and fathered 13 children. Reports also claimed that he owned property not just in Karachi and Balochistan, but even in Iran.
Power, for Rehman, was never meant to stay confined to the shadows.
Lyari Gang Wars And A Reign Of Terror
Rehman's rise was written in blood. Initially allied with Haji Lalu in running drugs and gambling rackets, the partnership soon collapsed, plunging Lyari into unprecedented violence. Estimates suggest that over 3,500 people were killed during the ensuing gang wars.
By the early 2000s, Rehman had decimated most opposition and crowned himself Lyari's undisputed 'king'.
Reporting on his reign, The Express Tribune wrote in 2021, "Rehman was involved in extortion, kidnapping, drug smuggling, the sale of illegal arms and more. For nearly a decade, gang war left life paralysed in Lyari as Rehman and his gang battled it out with rival Arshad Pappu and his acolytes."
It was during this period that Rehman's ambitions evolved. No longer content with ruling the underworld, he rebranded himself as Sardar Abdul Rahman Baloch and formed the Peoples Aman Committee.
Lyari had long been a political hotbed, associated with both the MQM and the People's Party - coincidentally, the political cradle of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. Rehman wanted not just influence, but legitimacy.
As his ambition grew, so did the scale of violence.
The Lyari Task Force And Chaudhry Aslam
In 2006, the Lyari Task Force was set up under Chaudhry Aslam to dismantle the gang network strangling Lyari. In Dhurandhar, this role is played by Sanjay Dutt, portrayed as a relentless, trigger-happy cop.
That year, the Task Force reportedly arrested Rehman Dakait - though the arrest was never officially recorded. Soon after, Chaudhry Aslam allegedly received a phone call from Asif Ali Zardari, who would later become Pakistan's President.
According to the BBC report, Zardari told him, "Don't kill him. Don't do anything wrong. Present the cases in court. Don't do an encounter."
Following this, Rehman was allegedly kept at the homes of police officers under secret custody, from where he managed to escape yet again, reinforcing his image as a man untouchable by law.
How Rehman Dakait Really Died
Rehman Dakait's reign continued until 2009, when the Lyari Task Force tracked him using phone data. Reports claim he was intercepted near Quetta, carrying a fake ID.
When asked to speak to a senior officer, Rehman approached a vehicle and found Chaudhry Aslam inside. He was detained on the spot.
According to accounts, Rehman offered money to settle the matter, but Aslam refused. Rehman Dakait and three of his associates were later killed in a police encounter in 2009. Police statements claimed he was wanted in over 80 cases, including murder and kidnapping.
However, the encounter remains controversial.
Maulana Abdul Majeed Sarbazi, former chairman of the People's Aman Committee, told The Express Tribune, "The autopsy reports say that Rehman was fired at a distance of three feet. That's not how people die in encounters. It is extremely sad that for seven years there was a fight going on between two groups no one interfered, and when things got better they killed Khan bhai. We don't understand why this happened or who was behind it."
Aftermath: Funeral And Unanswered Questions
Dhurandhar ends with Rehman Dakait's killing, while Dhurandhar 2, slated for release in March next year, will reportedly explore the aftermath.
In real life, Rehman received what is believed to be the largest funeral Lyari had ever witnessed.
His widow approached the Sindh High Court, alleging that the encounter was fake. The court ordered the police to submit a report, but the case was never conclusively resolved.
Chaudhry Aslam himself was killed in a Taliban suicide attack in 2014, adding yet another grim footnote to Lyari's violent history.
About Dhurandhar
Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar has turned Rehman Dakait's story into a gripping cinematic spectacle, anchored by Akshaye Khanna's chilling performance. The film has not just struck a chord creatively but rewritten box office records.
The spy thriller created history in its second weekend, earning over Rs 100 crore in just two days.
On December 13, the film collected Rs 53 crore, followed by approximately Rs 59 crore on Sunday, taking the weekend total to around Rs 112 crore, as per Sacnilk.
Dhurandhar continues its dream run with total earnings of Rs 351 crore so far.
Released on December 5, Dhurandhar features Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi. The makers have confirmed that Dhurandhar 2 will hit cinemas on March 19, 2026.
A Villain Who Refuses To Fade
Rehman Dakait's story sits at the uneasy intersection of crime, politics and power, a reminder of how deeply entrenched violence can become when the state looks away.
Dhurandhar dramatises his life, but the reality behind the character is far more disturbing than the applause in cinema halls suggests. And perhaps that is why the cheers feel so uncomfortable - because they echo a truth that cinema merely reflects, not creates.
