Daayra the latest movie at the hustings starring Kareena and Prithviraj Sukumaran. This is not another run of the mill Boly-Tolly venture as it’s storyline itself is the protagonist.
Since the advent of OTT people wanted better content in Hindi movies as they were fed up of mindless shenanigans of the heroes, song and dance and witless comedies. Here is a movie with a different narrative, how it pans out that we will come to, but it appears to be a first genuine attempt at internal affairs investigation within the police force.
This is a story of perceptions which lead to beliefs and actions accordingly. How far a Media trial and cop bias goes to influence the hand of law enforcement agencies is the narrative of the film having a run time of 143 minutes.
The SIT Investigation Breakdown
Daayra opens with the public celebrating the extra judicial encounter of confirmed rapists and murderers of a young girl by DCP Raman and his team, treated as heroes by the public but claimed as villains by human rights groups who smell a rat, an SIT investigation is called for to fact find if the encounter was genuine as reported. The SIT is headed by Ajooni Kohli also A DCP who has conducted such investigations in the past. Though the story is only about a 20 day period during which the crime took place, was solved and the encounter done, however the narration goes back and forth between timelining the murder and investigation and present SIT sleuthing.
The movie has a sombre tone to it which reminds one of Aamir Khan’s Talash. The on screen proceedings are on slow simmer and meander on defining the events, building characters and telling a story till the last scene.
Daayra – Symbolic Meaning at the Climax
It defines the raison de etre of the movie, when DCP Ajooni Kohli (played by Kareena Kapoor Khan) and DCP Raman Kumar have their ideological face-off regarding the rule of law versus vigilante justice. it’s about this moot question what is right or justified.
The last shot is poignant where Raman Kumar and Ajooni pass each other in their respective vehicles going in opposite directions (showing their ideologies), looking out of their windows they see Aarushi dhaba. The filmmakers, by naming the dhaba “Aarushi,” purposefully evoke the memories of the infamous 2008 Aarushi Talwar (also a movie directed by Meghna) case—a real-life tragedy that became synonymous with botched police investigations, media hysteria, judicial delays, and a systemic failure to provide clear justice. For Raman it denotes a failure of justice thus justifying his own actions. For Ajooni it still denotes a belief in the law.
However the debate will rage on for time to come.
Meghna is an able hand with a distinct directorial style evident in all her films, has the courage to take up topics which firmly lie within the grey zone thus keeping it open for interpretation. Though the topic is cheerless, she dispels the gloom by cutting any bravardo and strictly sticking to the story.
– Review by Pawan Gupta
Cast of Daayra:
Kareena Kapoor as DCP Ajooni Kohli IPS
Prithviraj Sukumaran as DCP Raman Kumar IPS
Pragati Mishra as Ragini Pujari
Prammod Sanghi as Abhinandan Basu
Sumali Khaniwale as NGO Head
Upendra Chauhan as Inspector Bishal Mishra
Man Singh Karamati as Jacob Mechanic
Md Ashanual Haque as SI Karthik Antony
Aarti Desai as Padma
Satish Badal as Yusuf
Sumit Raina as Police Inspector
Inzmam as Chhotu
Ashutosh Kumar Gupta as Bablu Chaubey
Jitendra Joshi as Inspectoor Karad
Kanwaljit Singh as Ajooni’s father
Kshitee Jog as Parvati Pujari, Ragini’s mother
Bhavesh Babbani as Kabir, Ragini’s brother
Trupti Khamkar as SI Jyoti
Talaash – movie review
Credits of Daayra:
Production companies – Junglee Pictures, Pen Studios
Directed by Meghna Gulzar
Written by Meghna Gulzar, Sima Agarwal, Yash Keswani
Produced by Vineet Jain, Dhaval Gada
Cinematography – Saurabh Goswami
Edited by Charu Shree Roy, Meghna Gulzar
Songs – Amit Trivedi
Score – Ketan Sodha
Daayra, movie review, Pawan Gupta, Meghna Gulzar, Kareena Kapoor, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Pragati Mishra, Prammod Sanghi
Tukaram Mundhe: The Relentless Watchdog of Maharashtra’s Kitchens
Release date
18 September 2026
