BT EXPLAINER: Who is Major Iqbal, the antagonist played by Arjun Rampal in Dhurandhar 2?

Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the sequel to Aditya Dhar's superhit film Dhurandhar, is already in theatres today. Moviegoers have appreciated the film for its direction and performances. Apart from Ranveer Singh, the other noteworthy performance from the film is Arjun Rampal's Major Iqbal. 

Sharing Rampal's look from the film, a social media user wrote, "I have never been a fan of Arjun Rampal, but he delivers the best performance of his career in Dhurandhar: The Revenge. I’m sure his career will be supercharged after the success of this film."

Another user said that Major Iqbal was far more menacing when compared to Dhurandhar's Rahman Dakait, portrayed effortlessly by Akshaye Khanna. 

"Arjun Rampal, the villain of Dhurandhar 2, is at least 10x more violent, cold, and terrifying than Akshaye Khanna. Apart from finding out who Bade Sahab really is and learning the backstory of Ranveer Singh’s character, I’m extremely curious to see how Hamza takes on Major Iqbal," the user said. 

But who is Major Iqbal? The Pakistani army officer, played by Rampal in Dhurandhar: The Revenge, is a barbaric ISI mastermind and the film's central antagonist. Major Iqbal has been portrayed as a cold, strategic planner behind major terror attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks. 

Described as "bloodthirsty", his character is based on a real-life militant leader, Ilyas Kashmiri. Born in Bhimber, Kashmiri was a Pakistani Special Forces Operator turned Islamist jihadist militant leader. 

He was a commander in the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJi) and led the 313 Brigade, a unit involved in attacks against Indian troops and Western targets. During one of his brigade's raids in Jammu and Kashmir, he was captured and imprisoned for 2 years before escaping. 

His notoriety increased in February 2000 after he led a gruesome attack on an Indian military post, in which he allegedly beheaded an Indian soldier, identified as the 24-year-old Sepoy Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar from Maharashtra's Ahmednagar.

It was widely reported at the time that he presented the young soldier's head to General Pervez Musharraf and got a reward of ₹1 lakh for it. The act made him a hero among jihadists fighting in Kashmir. 

NBC News claimed that US officials mentioned him as a possible successor to Osama bin Laden as the head of al-Qaeda. Ilyas Kashmiri was designated as a global terrorist by the US in 2010 and blacklisted by the UN. Before his death, CNN said he was the "most dangerous man on Earth".

Kashmiri was killed on June 3, 2011, in a US drone attack in South Waziristan district.  Late Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, who was killed by torture, said, "He (Ilyas Kashmiri) is invariably described by the world's intelligence agencies as the most effective, dangerous, and successful guerrilla leader in the world."