For audiences walking out of theatres, Lyari felt real. The narrow lanes, crowded homes, fading paint on walls and the restless energy of the neighbourhood all seemed unmistakably Pakistani. But the Lyari seen in Dhurandhar does not exist on any map in Pakistan or India.
Instead, it rose from the ground thousands of kilometres away, in Thailand.
What viewers watched on screen was a meticulously crafted six-acre set built to mirror one of Karachi&rsquo;s most iconic neighbourhoods. For the filmmakers, shooting in Pakistan was never an option, and even India posed challenges. Weather, space and scale made traditional locations impractical. The solution was to build Lyari from scratch in an Asian country better equipped to host such an ambitious production.
Hundreds of artists worked day and night to recreate the soul of the town. Walls were aged by hand. Window grills, signboards and alleys were designed after studying old photographs, films and archival footage to ensure authenticity. Every detail had to convince the viewer that this was Lyari nothing else.
For the common moviegoer, the illusion worked perfectly. Few realised that the streets buzzing with life on screen were actually standing on foreign soil, assembled in under a month by Indian and Thai crews working together.
Dhurandhar&rsquo;s success at the box office has now drawn attention to this unseen effort. Beyond performances and plot, the film stands as a reminder of how cinema quietly bends geography rebuilding cities, histories and identities so convincingly that audiences never question what they see.
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Where Dhurandhar’s Lyari Was Really Built

The Pakistan-set hit film recreated Lyari on a massive set far from home

Where Dhurandhar’s Lyari Was Really Built

The Pakistan-set hit film recreated Lyari on a massive set far from home

December 22, 2025 | 24:12 IST