How Dhurandhar Recreated Lyari in Bangkok
The ambitious project to bring Lyari to life on screen required an inventive blend of manpower, location strategy, and meticulous production design. Dhurandhar’s team, led by production designer Saini S Johray, orchestrated a multi-city shoot that culminated in a convincing, immersive world set entirely within Bangkok. Over 20 intense days and orchestrated by 500 skilled workers, the team stitched together a living, breathing neighborhood that felt authentic to Lyari’s textures, rhythms, and human scale.
The challenge: translating a real-world community into a cinematic universe
Lyari is a place with vivid street life, unique shop fronts, and a recognizable social fabric. The challenge for Johray and his crew was to capture that essence without resorting to obvious clichés. They mapped the city’s architecture, markets, and alleyways and then translated them into Bangkok’s built environment. The result was a set of redesigned streets, reused spaces, and controlled environments that preserved Lyari’s spontaneity while ensuring production safety and logistical efficiency.
Hans-on strategy and a large team
The production relied on a large, diverse crew—500 workers spanning carpenters, painters, set dressers, and prop masters. Every day involved precise coordination: building, dressing, lighting, and then breaking down scenes to move to the next location. A tight schedule allowed the team to maximize Bangkok’s available spaces while weaving in moments that nodded to Lyari’s distinctive character, from shuttered shopfronts to crowded courtyards.
Why Bangkok was the right canvas
Bangkok’s street grid, market vibes, and layered textures provided a versatile backdrop for Lyari’s flavor. The city’s natural light and dense urban aesthetic offered authenticity that was hard to replicate elsewhere. By choosing Bangkok as the primary city, the production could blend improvisation with controlled design, allowing realistic life to unfold around the staged elements. In tandem, parts of the shoot in Mumbai and Chandigarh supplied additional cultural references, ensuring the finished world felt globally rooted yet distinctly Lyari.
Immersive design: textures, color, and lived-in details
Immersion was crafted through a careful mix of color palettes, weathered textures, and prop choices that reflected Lyari’s everyday life. The set design avoided glossy finishes in favor of rust, patina, and handmade touches. Signage, vendor stalls, and makeshift storefronts were curated to evoke a real neighborhood’s hustle while remaining film-friendly. The attention to sound design and ambient noise further anchored the illusion of a bustling, lived-in space that audiences could believe in as Lyari.
From concept to cut: the timeline and outcomes
Spanning 20 days, the shoot demanded relentless organization: pre-production scouting, rapid set construction, and on-site adaptations. The team’s ability to maintain momentum under a tight schedule was crucial to meeting the film’s creative goals. The finished sequences showcase an elevated sense of place—one that invites viewers to feel the pulse of Lyari within Bangkok’s urban geography. The immersive world-building did not just serve the film’s aesthetics; it reinforced character journeys by grounding them in a space that looks and feels true to life.
Behind the scenes: voices from the team
In conversations with the production crew, Saini S Johray emphasized that the payoff came from collaborative creativity. The production design team worked closely with directors, cinematographers, and local artisans to ensure the Lyari-inspired environment remained both authentic and film-ready. The result is a world that respects the source while leveraging Bangkok’s urban palette to tell a universal story about community and resilience.
What this means for future location-driven cinema
Dhura n Dhar’s Lyari-in-Bangkok feat demonstrates how immersive design can be achieved with disciplined planning and a large, skilled workforce. It shows that a city’s soul can be staged with respect and realism, even when the production spans multiple countries. For filmmakers and production designers, the project offers a blueprint for balancing authenticity with practical storytelling needs—an inspiring model for future location-driven cinema.
