Noreen Aslam, the widow of Shaheed SP Chaudhry Aslam Khan, has raised strong objections to the way her late husband has been portrayed in the trailer of Aditya Dhar’s film Dhurandhar.
Calling out what she terms as deeply disrespectful language, she has warned of legal action if the film misrepresents the legacy of one of Pakistan’s most revered police officers.
SP Chaudhry Aslam Khan, a towering figure in Karachi’s fight against terrorism and organised crime, is portrayed by Sanjay Dutt in the Ranveer Singh–starrer spy thriller.
Aslam was serving as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Karachi’s anti-terror unit when he embraced martyrdom in a suicide attack in 2014.
Speaking on a Dialogue Pakistan podcast, Noreen Aslam shared that her husband had admired Sanjay Dutt since watching Khalnayak in the 1990s.
However, she expressed pain and anger over a line in the film’s trailer where a character allegedly refers to Aslam as “the offspring of the devil and a djinn.”
“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.”
Born Muhammad Aslam Khan in 1963 in Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, SP Chaudhary Aslam hailed from a proud Pathan family. He joined the Sindh Police in the 1980s and rose to prominence during his tenure as SHO of Gulbahar Police Station in Karachi.
Two decades later, he led the Lyari Task Force during the state’s decisive crackdown on violent gangs in the 2000s. Known for his fearlessness, SP Chaudhary Aslam played a pivotal role in restoring writ of the state in some of Karachi’s most dangerous neighbourhoods.
He survived a major Taliban attack in 2011 but was ultimately assassinated in 2014 by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), paying the ultimate price for defending Pakistan against terrorism. He is widely credited with neutralising multiple high-profile criminals and militants who posed grave threats to national security.
At the time of his martyrdom, he was serving as SSP of Karachi’s anti-terror unit.
SP Chaudhary Aslam later became one of Pakistan’s most recognised encounter specialists, with his work intersecting with broader regional intelligence tensions.
While his operations were carried out strictly under Pakistani authority, some cases he handled later became part of international narratives involving foreign intelligence agencies.
He was linked to the arrest of Saulat Mirza, an MQM worker convicted of murdering a senior Pakistani bureaucrat.
Before his execution in 2015, Mirza alleged in a recorded statement that MQM elements had received assistance from India’s intelligence agency, RAW—claims India strongly denied.
SP Chaudhary Aslam also led operations against notorious gangster Uzair Baloch. In April 2012, he commanded a 12-day operation in Lyari targeting criminal networks associated with Baloch, who was arrested in 2016 after Aslam’s death. Pakistani authorities later accused Baloch of sharing sensitive information with foreign intelligence agencies.
Officials have also claimed that Baloch had connections to networks linked with Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who remains in Pakistani custody—allegations India has categorically denied.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar stars Ranveer Singh as an Indian spy operating in Karachi’s Lyari area, alongside Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal and R Madhavan. The film is loosely inspired by Operation Lyari and presents an Indian intelligence-centric version of events in Karachi.
Ranveer plays Hamza Ali Mazari, an undercover operative in Pakistan’s underworld whose real identity is Jaskirat Singh Rangi, a former Indian Army officer driven by revenge—an angle that has drawn criticism for oversimplifying and politicising Pakistan’s complex security history.
For Noreen Aslam and many Pakistanis, however, the concern is clear: SP Chaudhary Aslam Khan was a national hero who laid down his life for Pakistan, and any attempt to sensationalise or demean his legacy will not go unchallenged.