Dhurandhar: Ex-Mayor From Pakistan's Karachi Backs Ranveer Singh Film, Says 'Everything Shown Was True'

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh’s blockbuster film Dhurandhar is back in the spotlight after a Pakistani journalist publicly supported the movie’s portrayal of Karachi’s Lyari area. Speaking during an interaction with journalist Saurabh Dwivedi at Talk Journalism 2026, Pakistani journalist Arif Aajakia said the film’s portrayal of Lyari reflected what he had personally witnessed while living there.

Dhurandhar, which released in 2025, was inspired by real-life events and crime syndicates operating in Karachi’s Lyari area. The film follows an Indian operative on a covert mission and explores themes of terrorism, intelligence operations and cross-border conflict.

In a video shared by ANI, Aajakia spoke about his personal connection to the area depicted

in the movie. “I was the mayor of a town in Karachi, elected mayor during the period when Dhurandhar was done. I was born and raised in Lyari, so I knew that everything shown was true.” He also spoke about his family’s roots in India. “I was born in Karachi, but my parents were born in Junagadh, Gujarat. I consider myself to be of Indian origin, not Pakistani.”

Dhurandhar starred Ranveer Singh as Jaskirat Singh Rangi, an undercover Indian agent on a mission in Pakistan. Inspired by real-life events, the film went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2025. Its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge (Dhurandhar 2), released on March 19 this year and became a massive box-office success. The film earned over Rs 1,800 crore worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing Indian film of all time.

Meanwhile, Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge is streaming internationally on Netflix. However, Indian audiences will be able to watch the action drama exclusively on JioHotstar from June 4. For viewers outside India, Netflix is stream the film under the title Dhurandhar: The Revenge (Raw & Undekha).

The alternate title is being used to market a more intense streaming version featuring uncensored content and additional scenes that were not part of the theatrical release. The OTT edition runs for around 3 hours and 52 minutes, making it roughly three minutes longer than the 3 hour 49 minute cinema version.

Apart from Ranveer Singh, Dhurandhar features an ensemble cast that includes R Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, Gaurav Gera, Rakesh Bedi, Sara Arjun, Danish Pandor, Udaybir Sandhu and Manav Gohil.