Dhurandhar: From Major Mohit Sharma to Rehman Dakait, who plays what in the film

It’s been two days since the trailer of Dhurandhar was unveiled, but the internet has not stopped talking about the film. Directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar boasts of an impressive cast which includes Ranveer Singh, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt. While the Dhar has not divulged the plot of the film, it is reportedly based on ‘incredible true events’ and each actor plays characters loosely based on real people.

In the 4-minute-long trailer, Ranveer Singh was the only one whose character name was not revealed. Singh appears to be playing the role of an undercover agent or an Indian Army soldier in Pakistan. According to reports, Singh is playing Ashok Chakra awardee Major Mohit Sharma, who had infiltrated the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist group under the alias 'Iftikhar Bhat' during a secret mission. One of the most decorated officers of the Indian Army, Bhjatt was martyred in a counter-insurgency operation in Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir.

Dhar has been able to transform Arjun Rampal, and many are calling this film as Rampal’s comeback venture. Rampal plays Major Iqbal and appears right at the beginning of the trailer, sending chills down the spine with his barbaric act. The actor’s character is loosely based on Ilyas Kashmiri, who was at one point in time the most wanted man for Indian intelligence. Ilyas had reportedly played key roles in several terror strikes in India, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Ilyas Kashmiri's name began circulating in the intelligence circuit back in 1994 when he, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Al Qaeda operative Omar Sheikh, kidnapped four foreign tourists and demanded the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad. In 2011, reports stated that he had died in a US drone attack in Pakistan.

Much like Arjun Rampal, Akshaye Khanna also impressed everyone in the trailer with cold, ruthless ways. Khanna plays Rehman Dakai,t who is also an important figure in the political landscape of Pakistan.

According to Pakistani media, Rehman Dakait -- born Sardar Abdul Rehman Baloch -- was one of Karachi's most notorious criminals. Rehman, a son of a drug smuggler, rose from the streets of Karachi to gain legitimacy in the political circles of Islamabad. In August 2009, Rehman Dakait was killed in a police encounter led by Superintendent of Police Chaudhary Aslam Khan in Karachi's Steel Town area.

Sanjay Dutt plays the gun-wielding SP Chaudhary Aslam in the film. The character is reportedly based on Chaudhry Aslam, one of Pakistan's top cops and encounter specialists. The real cop was known for leading operations against gangs in Lyari, including arrests and killings of underworld dons like Rehman Dakait and Arshad Pappu.

He survived several attempts on his life but was assassinated in a bomb blast in January 2014 in a hit claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) due to his actions against militants.

In Dhurandhar, R Madhavan plays Ajay Sanyal, a top officer of the Indian Intelligence Agency. While the name has been changed, Madhavan’s look bears striking similarity to Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor and former Intelligence Bureau (IB) director. From the balding head, to thin lips and moustache – Madhavan looks exactly like the former IB chief who played an instrumental role in several counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts, including anti-insurgency operations in Punjab and Mizoram, negotiating the release of hostages in the 1999 IC-814 hijacking (a glimpse of which is seen in the Dhurandhar trailer too, and covert missions such as Operation Black Thunder in 1988. This is not the first time that Dhoval has featured in Dhar’s film. The filmmaker’s first film Uri: The Surgical Strike, had actor Paresh Rawal playing the intelligence officer.