Bollywood’s upcoming film Dhurandhar—set for release in early December—has ignited strong backlash after its trailer depicted Karachi’s Lyari district as a war-zone and dubbed it “the heart of terrorism in the country”. In the film, actor Ranveer Singh plays an Indian RAW agent infiltrating Pakistani territory, while Arjun Rampal portrays Major Iqbal—a Pakistani intelligence officer fixated on “making India bleed”.
Veteran actor R. Madhavan appears as Ajay Sanyal, a character modelled on India’s NSA Ajit Doval, who argues that Pakistan—especially Lyari—must be targeted to combat terror.
Critics in Pakistan argue the film misappropriates real-life events like the Lyari gang wars and internal Karachi conflicts—stressing that such internal Pakistani history shouldn’t be appropriated by an Indian cinematic narrative. Meanwhile, many Indian viewers are also lambasting the film’s sensationalist tone and distorted portrayal of Pakistan.