Chaudhary Aslam Khan The Karachi Encounter Specialist Who Inspired Sanjay Dutt in Dhurandhar (Source: Facebook)
One of the central figures referenced in Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar is Karachi’s slain police officer, SP Chaudhary Aslam Khan, the man Sanjay Dutt portrays in the spy-action thriller. Aslam was serving as SSP of Karachi’s anti-terror unit when he was killed in a suicide attack in 2014.
Aslam’s wife, Noreen, recently spoke about her husband’s depiction in the Ranveer Singh-led film. She said in a podcast that her husband had admired Sanjay Dutt ever since watching Khalnayak in the 1990s. However, she raised an objection, “the trailer of the film has a character describe Aslam as the offspring of the devil and a djinn.”
Calling the remark disrespectful, she added, “We are Muslims, and such words are disrespectful not only to Aslam but his mother, who was a simple, honest woman. If I see my husband being portrayed wrongly or any propaganda against him in the film, I will definitely take all the legal steps I can.”
SP Chaudhary Aslam, born Muhammad Aslam Khan in 1963 in Mansehra district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was a Pathan who became one of Karachi’s most well-known police officers. He joined the Sindh Police in the 1980s and first gained attention during his tenure as SHO of the Gulbahar Police Station in Karachi.
By the 2000s, he rose to lead the Lyari Task Force during the government’s crackdown on Karachi’s influential gangs. He is widely credited with eliminating several major gangsters from the region.
After surviving a Taliban attack in 2011, Aslam was ultimately assassinated in 2014 by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani faction of the Taliban.
Sanjay Dutt’s character in Dhurandhar is inspired by Aslam, and the film loosely explores Operation Lyari and India’s intelligence efforts against terror networks in the region.
Aslam eventually became Pakistan’s most recognized encounter specialist. His policing role frequently overlapped with narratives involving India–Pakistan intelligence tensions.
While he primarily worked under Pakistan’s policing mandates, several individuals he pursued were later linked to larger espionage stories influencing bilateral relations.
Reports highlight his involvement in the arrest of Saulat Mirza, the MQM worker convicted in the killing of a senior Pakistani bureaucrat. Before his execution in 2015, Mirza claimed MQM members received assistance from India’s intelligence agency, RAW, a claim India strongly denied.
Aslam was also linked to operations targeting Karachi underworld figure Uzair Baloch. In 2012, Aslam led a 12-day crackdown on groups associated with Baloch, who was later arrested in 2016. Pakistan would later accuse Baloch of sharing intelligence with foreign agencies.
Officials further alleged Baloch had links to networks connected with Indian national and naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who remains in Pakistani custody allegations India has categorically rejected.
Sanjay Dutt portrays SSP Chaudhary Aslam in Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, a character inspired by Pakistan’s famed encounter specialist Chaudhary Aslam Khan. In the film, Dutt plays a fierce and uncompromising Sindh Police officer posted in Lyari, modeled on the real-life officer known for leading major crackdowns on Karachi’s criminal networks. Within the storyline, SP Chaudhary Aslam and local politician Jameel Jamali act as trusted allies to the protagonist Hamza (Ranveer Singh) during the initial phase of his mission to eliminate syndicate leader Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna). Dutt’s performance is marked by intensity and a commanding screen presence, earning his character the promotional nickname “The Jinn.” However, the portrayal has also triggered controversy, as Chaudhary Aslam’s widow has expressed dissatisfaction with how her husband is described in the film.
Before becoming the inspiration for Sanjay Dutt’s role in Dhurandhar, Aslam was already being compared to another Sanjay Dutt character.
A resurfaced social media post has highlighted that Aslam was previously compared to ACP Shamsher Khan, the ATS chief played by Sanjay Dutt in the 2007 film Shootout at Lokhandwala. The movie recreated the 1991 Lokhandwala shootout between Mumbai Police and gangsters.
Shamsher Khan’s character in the film was based on real-life IPS officer Aftab Ahmed Khan, known for founding Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
In 2012, Pakistani outlet Dunya News drew the comparison publicly, even sharing a side-by-side video showing the similar walking styles of Chaudhry Aslam and the fictional Shamsher Khan.
Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar features Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy operating in Lyari. The cast includes Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, and Sanjay Dutt. The film opened to mixed reviews but earned ₹99 crore net in India during its opening weekend.
Ranveer Singh plays Hamza Ali Mazari an undercover agent navigating Pakistan’s Lyari underworld. His real identity, Jaskirat Singh Rangi, is a former Indian Army officer seeking justice and revenge. The character draws inspiration from covert missions such as those led by Major Mohit Sharma.
