Featured Movie # Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra Now Showing in Theatres – Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj Sukumaran Star in Crime Thriller
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Daayra is Out in Theatres The horror-fame film is starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, in the film released on 18 th September, 2026 in Hindi and Malayalam.
While the film marks the big screen pairing of Kareena and Prithviraj, it is also the first time both will be seen as police officers in a role. The two play police officers at opposite ends of a challenging case, with the film exploring crime, arrest, punishment and what is beyond the law.
Daayra is made under the banner of Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios. Yash Keswani, Sima Agarwal and Meghna Gulzar are credited for the story and screenplay of this film. It is a 2 hours 23 minutes film and it has been released with an A certificate.
Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj as Cops
DCP Ajooni Kohli: Kareena Kapoor Khan; DCP Raman Kumar: Prithviraj Sukumaran;…
The two officers work for the same police department, but a high-profile case pits them against each other. The disagreement isn’t about a good cop versus a bad cop – it’s about two officers who work together in the same system each having a very different idea about what should happen when justice is in conflict with a hard choice.
Meghna Gulzar mentioned this difference as well. She mentioned that the two characters are not really completely opposed to each other. “I think it’s more in terms of what happened was that the situation of the case. That’s where they came to either side of the case.
The trailer had already introduced the central conflict to viewers.
What Is Daayra About?
It all began with the rape and murder of a girl. Four were booked in the case and later Raman Kumar and his police party shot dead them in an encounter.
The incident does not end the case.
Enter the officer who arrived to probe the incident. As her investigations reveal, the event opens up a number of questions: What actually happened? Did the police act within the law, and to what extent can an officer be said to go to achieve justice?
This forms the central conflict of Daayra. There’s one half of the story where there’s a hands down immediate desire for justice, and then there’s the other half which deals with procedure, evidence, and accountability.
The producer has said the film is about ‘a thriller that focuses on crime, justice and punishment’. Producer J. P. Dutta has said the story is based on real events, even though the film is fictional based on those events.
First Collaboration between Kareena & Prithviraj
One of the biggest draws around Daayra is the pairing of Kareena Kapoor Khan with Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Despite having both acted predominantly in Indian films for many years, this is their first feature together. Kareena is a leading star of Hindi cinema and has been for over 20 years, whereas Prithviraj has been starring in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films.
Their characters in Daayra aren’t exactly the classic showdown of one good guy vs one bad guy. They are both police officers operating within the same flawed system, and it is their different methods of investigation that come into conflict.
The cast also features Jitendra Joshi, Kshitee Jog, Kanwaljeet Singh, Sandeep Kulkarni and Trupti Khamkar.
Meghna Gulzar Re-Teaming With Crime and Investigation
Daayra is a third film by Meghna Gulzar, who explores a topical, real-world subject through a dramatic narrative.
Her previous film, Talvar, was about a murder investigation and the conflicting versions of the story told by the investigators. Raazi was based on a young woman from India who is recruited as a spy during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
In Daayra again, Gulzar deals with a case being studied by the police and exploring the questions of law and order.
This is also her third film with Junglee Pictures. The production house has previously backed Talvar and Raazi.
No Typical Song-Focused Plot of the Movie
Daayra has mostly been promoted as a suspense thriller than a commercial Hindi film.
The trailer centres on the case, the police and the questions about that brief encounter. Less time is spent on romance or the usual song-and-dance style trailer.
The music has been given by Amit Trivedi and Ketan Sodha. Gulzar is the lyricist of the track. Meghna Gulzar and Charu Shree Roy have edited the song.
There is enough foreshadowing in the film to keep the focus of the audience on the investigation and the way it is conducted and on the investigators.
Daayra Opens in Cinemas
Already opened in cinemas on September 18th. See complete details. Language Hindi, Malayalam.
Initial box office reports indicated a bit of a slow opening day. As per initial estimates published in The Economic Times, the movie earned an estimated 90 lakh net in India for the day with a reported occupancy of approx 12 per cent. These are initial estimates and subject to change as reports are ascertained.
Those figures do arrive however, despite the pairing of Kareena Kapoor, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Meghna Gulzar.
The release will now stay in theaters through the weekend, after a weekend of showing its worth to the people on the receiving end of its marketing.
What Makes the Story Different
The core of Daayra is a question that has been at the centre of social debate for a number of years: what results when an immediate need for justice clashes with the process of the law?
Starting out not in the courtroom, but at a crime scene and police encounter and then working backwards into the investigation of that encounter.
This architecture enables the narrative to be told from multiple viewpoints.
Initial reviews of the movie have been varied. While viewers have lauded the acting and issues surrounding justice and culpability, other reviews have pointed to problems with the pace and screenwriting.
Daayra At Theatres Now: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj Sukumaran star in Meghna Gulzar’s newest crime film.
