Pak politician unhappy with his portrayal in Dhurandhar, calls film inaccurate: 'Inka agent Lyari se zinda nahi jata'

Pakistani politician Nabil Gabol has slammed how he has been depicted in Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar, where Rakesh Bedi plays a character modelled on him.

Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar has not just broken box office records, but also become a hot topic of conversation across the Indian subcontinent. The spy thriller is set in Pakistan’s Lyari Town, blending real incidents with fiction for its narrative. A hallmark of the film has been the use of real people as characters. Pakistani politician Nabil Gabol is one such person. The character of Jameel Jamali in Dhurandhar, played by Rakesh Bedi, is based on Gabol. Now, the former Pakistani minister has spoken out about his portrayal in the film, and he is not happy.

Rakesh Bedi (R) plays Jameel Jamali in Dhurandhar, a politician based on real-life Pakistani lawmaker Nabil Gabol (L).

Pak politician reacts to depiction in Dhurandhar

Nabil Gabol is a former Member of National Assembly in Pakistan, having served as the Minister of State for Ports and Shipping as well. The character of Jameel Jamali is inspired by him and also partly physically modelled on him.

Recently, while speaking with the media, Gabol was asked if he would go to the international forum to seek a ban on Dhurandhar, which has been criticised by many in Pakistan for ‘tarnishing the country’s image’. The former MNA said he doesn’t have the money to do so. However, he did criticise the film, particularly his own depiction. “Jo mera role dikhaya gaya hai, mera role bahut dabbang tha, or dabbang iss tareeke se tha ki inhone mere role ko sahi tareeke se nahi dikhaya (I was very audacious. But they haven’t shown me the way I was).”

‘Inka agent zinda-salammat Lyari se nahi jata’

Gabol was born in Lyari, and was an elected member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly from there from 1988-97. Talking about how his hometown has been depicted in the film, he added, “Inhone koshish kari hai Lyari ko terrorist hub dikhane ki, Lyari koi terrorist hub nahi hai. Agar inka koi agent aa jata toh woh zinda-salammat Lyari se nahi jata. (They have tried to show Lyari as a terrorist hub, which it is not. And if there agent had been there, he would not have gone back alive from Lyari).”

About Dhurandhar

Dhurandhar shows Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy infiltrating the gang of Rehman Dakait in Lyari to uncover his ties with ISI and the Pakistani terror network. The real Rehman Dakait was a gangster in Lyari who was gunned down in 2009. Akshaye Khanna plays Rehman in the film, which also stars Arjun Rampal as an ISI Major, Sanjay Dutt as Karachi SP Chaudhary Aslam, and R Madhavan as IB Chief Ajay Sanyal. Dhurandhar has earned over ₹700 crore worldwide.