Did You Know? Akshaye Khanna Dhurandhar Character Rehman Dakait Killed His Mother at 15!

The article assesses the Dhurandhar film, focusing on Rehman Dakait’s ascent within Lyari’s crime milieu, its portrayal, and the broader links to politics. It also reviews box office performance, audience reception, and the planned sequel, while grounding claims in police, court, and media records to contextualise the narrative.

The biggest roar in cinemas for Dhurandhar does not greet the hero. It erupts when Akshaye Khanna appears as Karachi gangster Rehman Dakait. The character dominates the screen as a calm but terrifying force. Yet the real Abdul Rehman Baloch left a record of violence, politics and mystery that feels harsher than the film.

The film’s success adds to the renewed interest in Rehman Dakait’s life. Audiences in India watch a thriller, yet the story grew from Lyari’s long war with crime. Data from police reports, media archives and court records shows a pattern of early brutality, failed state control and political links that Dhurandhar only hints at.

Dhurandhar, Rehman Dakait and box office performance

Dhurandhar has also become a financial event. Trade estimates from Sacnilk show the spy thriller collected about Rs 112 crore during its second weekend alone. On December 13, the film earned Rs 53 crore. On the following Sunday, it added roughly Rs 59 crore. Total domestic earnings are placed near Rs 351 crore so far.

The film released on December 5 and features Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi. Makers have already scheduled Dhurandhar 2 for March 19, 2026. While the sequel will reportedly track the fallout of Rehman’s death, the original focuses on his rise and his clash with the state.

Dhurandhar, Rehman Dakait and Lyari background

To understand why Dhurandhar resonates, it helps to return to Lyari, Karachi’s dense, poor quarter. Abdul Rehman, later known as Rehman Dakait, was born there in 1976. According to a BBC report, Rehman was the son of Dad Mohammad and second wife Khadija. The family was already embedded in narcotics and extortion networks.

Dad Mohammad and his brothers handled drug distribution across Lyari, constantly fighting rival outfits led by Iqbal, called Baboo Dakait, and Haji Lalu. Protection money collection ran alongside narcotics trade. 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."

Dhurandhar, Rehman Dakait and early criminal path

Violence surrounded Rehman from childhood and soon became his own tool. At about 13, he stabbed and injured a man who objected to Rehman bursting crackers in Lyari. By 15, Rehman had moved from assault to murder, killing two rival drug sellers after an argument. Family history and neighbourhood conditions combined to normalise repeated bloodshed.

The most disturbing incident came in 1995. Rehman had broken out of police custody months earlier. That year, inside the family home, Rehman shot and killed Khadija. Police heard Rehman say he had murdered her because "she became a police informant". Many accounts, repeated in Dhurandhar, also claim Rehman suspected a relationship with a rival gangster.

Later in 1995, Rehman was again arrested, this time for weapons and narcotics possession. He was jailed for nearly two and a half years. During a transfer from Karachi jail to court, he staged another escape and disappeared to Balochistan. From there, intelligence reports say, he rebuilt operations and widened his network with even greater aggression.

By the early 2000s, Rehman Dakait was considered one of Lyari’s main gang leaders. By 2006, he reportedly controlled large sums of money, property and political access. Reports said he had three marriages and 13 children, and owned assets in Karachi, Balochistan and even Iran. Underworld power was turning steadily into recognised influence.

The Lyari gang wars that followed left severe damage. Rehman first worked with Haji Lalu on drugs and gambling. Their alliance collapsed and Lyari descended into battles that, by some counts, killed more than 3,500 people. The Express Tribune later wrote, "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."

During these years, Rehman gradually tried to move from feared gangster to political broker. Rehman adopted the name Sardar Abdul Rahman Baloch and created the Peoples Aman Committee. Lyari already had links with parties like the MQM and the People's Party, home base of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. Rehman wanted formal legitimacy and sustained leverage.

The state response sharpened in 2006 with formation of the Lyari Task Force led by Chaudhry Aslam. In Dhurandhar, Sanjay Dutt plays a similar officer, shown as relentless and quick to fire. That year, reports say the Task Force caught Rehman, although no official arrest record appeared. What followed shows how politics entered law enforcement.

According to the BBC account, Aslam received a call from Asif Ali Zardari, later Pakistan’s President. Zardari reportedly said, "Don't kill him. Don't do anything wrong. Present the cases in court. Don't do an encounter." After this call, Rehman was allegedly held in secret at police officers’ houses, from where Rehman escaped again, enhancing his reputation as protected and elusive.

Rehman’s final chapter began in 2009, when the Lyari Task Force traced him using phone data. He was stopped near Quetta while carrying fake identity papers. When officers asked Rehman to speak to a senior official, he walked to a vehicle and saw Chaudhry Aslam inside. Rehman was detained and, according to accounts, offered money to settle things.

Police sources say Aslam refused the offer. Later that year, Rehman and three associates died in what authorities described as a police encounter. Officials claimed Rehman was wanted in more than 80 cases, including murder and kidnapping. Yet questions soon emerged about how the operation was conducted and whether it followed proper procedures.

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."

Rehman’s funeral drew what many residents described as Lyari’s largest crowd. His widow then approached the Sindh High Court, alleging the encounter was staged. The court ordered police to file a report, but the case never reached a clear outcome. In 2014, Chaudhry Aslam himself died in a Taliban suicide attack, closing another chapter in Lyari’s violent timeline.

Dhurandhar compresses this messy record into a thriller powered by Akshaye Khanna’s performance as Rehman Dakait. The franchise’s box office rise, and the planned Dhurandhar 2, suggest continuing interest in the story. Yet the real data on killings, political links and contested encounters shows a history that stays darker than the loudest applause inside any cinema hall.