India, Dec. 22 -- This article discusses key scenes and character details from Dhurandhar and draws parallels with the real-life figure who inspired them. Readers who haven't seen the movie yet, and wish to avoid movie spoilers may want to proceed with caution.

Every time Akshaye Khanna walks into frame in Dhurandhar, dressed in a Pathan suit or dark blazer, the moment is designed for spectacle. Music swells, the camera lingers as he commands the screen with quiet menace. Several viewers have said that his screen presence was much stronger in the film than that of lead actor Ranveer Singh.

The man Khanna portrays, however, was never a creature of style. Rehman Baloch, also known as Rehman Dakait, ruled not with charisma but with fear, a...