Lyari in Bangkok: How Dhurandhar rebuilt Karachi’s toughest neighbourhood with 500 workers

Lyari is central to the film’s world-building, but shooting in Pakistan was not on the table

The most talked-about “location” in Dhurandhar is not in Pakistan at all. The film’s team recreated Karachi’s Lyari, one of the city’s most tightly packed and visually distinctive neighbourhoods, on a large outdoor set in Bangkok, using a workforce of nearly 500 people and completing the build in roughly 20 days, according to accounts from the production team.

Why Lyari was built outside Pakistan

Lyari is central to the film’s world-building, but shooting in Pakistan was not on the table. Reports say the makers opted for Thailand after weather and logistics forced a late shift, and because Bangkok offered more control over streets, set access and long shooting schedules than a live, crowded urban location would.

The scale of the build

Production designer Saini S Johray has described the set as a six-acre environment designed to feel lived-in rather than “constructed,” with the brief focused on making the space look authentic on camera. The effort was manpower-heavy by design, relying on continuous work to meet deadlines without compromising detail.

What authenticity means in a “recreated city”

Recreating Lyari is not just about signage and skyline. The visual identity comes from compressed architecture, layered facades, tangled lanes, street-level commerce and the sense of density that defines older parts of Karachi. Reports quoting the production team say director Aditya Dhar pushed for realism so that nothing looked like a studio backlot once the camera began moving through the space.

Why it matters for the film and for the market

In practical terms, a built environment allows repeated takes, stunts, controlled lighting and continuity across sequences. In business terms, it signals confidence: Dhurandhar’s team effectively treated location as infrastructure, investing upfront to reduce downstream risk and accelerate the shoot. For big-scale Hindi films that need geopolitical distance but visual specificity, Bangkok is increasingly serving as a flexible stand-in, and Lyari’s recreation is being held up as a benchmark example.