Rehman Dakait real story: The Pakistani gangster's bloody past inspired Akshaye Khanna’s Dhurandhar role

Since the release of Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar, the internet has gone crazy over his performance as Rehman Dakait, Karachi's Lyari gangster. His chilling performance has not only stood out, but it has also led people to go berserk over his acting, with many even starting to research who Rehman Dakait was.

Khanna, who has been part of the industry for over three decades now, has been earning plaudits for his compelling performance as the dreaded gangster.

Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait is the new internet obsession

Khanna has become the chatter of social media, and all thanks to his performance in Dhar's spy thriller. The villainous role that he played and the aura he carried in every scene were outstanding.

From his dialogue delivery to just a stare, Khanna ruled the screen and delivered a standout performance in a movie that rather had a handsome and prolific clan of actors, including Ranveer Singh.

Netizens are currently addicted to Akshaye, his performance, and the role he played. Even several netizens have been sharing videos that claim to be of Rehman Dakait along with clips of Akshaye from the movie. As the interest around the movie and it's character's grew among the netizens, moviegoers were quick to Google Akshaye's character Rehman, his life and whether he was this brutal in real life too.

Who was Pakistani gangster Rehman Dakait?

Born in 1975 as Sardar Abdul Rehman Baloch, famously known as Rehman Dakait, he was the son of gangster Mohammed Dadal. He was born and brought up in the world of crime in the town of Lyari, an area near Karachi Port, which had been ruled by brutal gang leaders for over 60 years.

The place was famous for drug smuggling, looting, targeted killings, and its crime stories reportedly dominated headlines in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

It has been said that Rehman was one of the most dreaded gangsters and committed his first murder at the age of 13. If you watched the movie, it shows that Rehman killed his mother, and according to several reports, it has been said that he actually killed her over her affair with another gang leader and his father's murderer. He commited this crime when he was only 15 years old.

After his father's death, Rehman went on to become the gang leader and continued to commit murders and spread fear across the area as he carried on with the illegal business of drugs and headed the rivalry against gangsters such as Arshad Pappu. At one point, Dakait's gang had dominance over approximately 85% of Lyari. Another report say that Dakait joined Haji Laloo's gang and took over as the leader following Laloo's 2001 arrest.

Apart from his brutal image, he was also seen as a robinhood as he funded communities, helped poors and had been seen as a leader of Baloch community.

Although nothing is confirmed, but he have strong connections with various politicians and political parties, which used him to churn out vote in Lyari area.

He was arrested several times, but with the help of his connections, he managed to escape, including a famous arrest in 2006. But he killed in a shootout in 2009 during a police encounter.