Karachi: Aditya Dhar’s ‘Dhurandhar’ has ignited a sharp debate in India and across the border, where much of the story is set. Pakistani critics and social media users claim that the film contains several factual inaccuracies and that the makers have taken significant creative liberties.

Released on 5 December, the high-octane spy thriller is directed and written by Dhar. With Ranveer Singh in the lead, the film follows covert intelligence operations linked to major geopolitical and terror incidents such as the Kandahar plane hijack, the 2001 Parliament attack and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

The film, which has received polarising reactions in India, is largely set in Lyari town in Karachi, an area historically associated with gang wars and violent turf battles.

What are critics in Pakistan saying?

Pakistani critics, actors and content creators have now entered the discussion.

Omair Alavi, a noted film critic and writer, said that while the movie is well-made with strong performances, its representation of Karachi and events from 2007–2008 is not accurate.

“‘Dhurandhar’ is a well-made film, slick and the acting is also good but it has many factual inaccuracies about Karachi and the period of 2007–2008 shown in the film,” Alavi said.

He added that Pakistani filmmakers avoid such films as they are a major financial risk.

“Our filmmakers are just not willing to make such propaganda films because it is a huge financial risk as when in the past such films were made on patriotic tones, they flopped at the box office,” he said.

According to Alavi, the number of cinemas in Pakistan has sharply declined, ticket prices are high and viewers prefer quality dramas at home.

He added, “As a critic, I can point out many inaccuracies in the movie. But at the end of the day, does the average film goer in India know about these things or even cares about them? For him, it is a slick action movie with big stars and Pakistanis are not good neighbours and thus it is a hit.”

Is the story inspired by Pakistani cinema?

Drama actor Qamar Reza said that propaganda-style films in Pakistan have never been embraced by audiences.

“In Pakistan, when some propaganda or biographic films were made, they were done on low budgets and were badly made, so no one saw them,” he said. He also claimed that the idea of “Dhurandhar” appears to be inspired by a 2022 Pakistani film based on real-life police officer Chaudhary Aslam, who died in a car bomb blast in 2014.

In the movie, Sanjay Dutt plays the role of Chaudhary Aslam, while Akshaye Khanna portrays the real-life gangster Rahman Dakait. Arjun Rampal appears as Major Iqbal of ISI, a character based on terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri, and R. Madhavan plays Indian spymaster Ajay Sanyal.

How are younger viewers responding?

Content creator Bilal Hassan, known online as @mystapaki, summed up the conflicted sentiment.

“It is very, very well-made. Action sequences fantastic, Akshaye Khanna's acting was… I wanted to be upset at it, but I couldn't be upset at it,” he said.

However, he raised concerns over anti-Pakistan dialogues. “If that isn't propaganda, I don't know what it is,” he said.

Hassan added that political sensitivities in Pakistan prevent such stories from being told locally. He said he grew up witnessing the Lyari gang wars.

“Chaudhry Aslam's house was in front of my school. When there was a bomb blast on top of his house, my school's windows broke. That's how close to home this story was for me.

“We won't tell this story. Why? Because our politicians will get dirty. Our government will get dirty. So instead, we choose to just greenlight sh***y scripts…”

Why are viewers pointing out costume errors?

Several Pakistani viewers have criticised the film for inaccurate costumes. Some social media users pointed out that in Pakistan, no one wears a half-sleeve shalwar kameez, which is worn by Ranveer Singh’s character, Hamza, in the film.

PTI inputs