Daayra review: Daayra brings Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran together as two police officers with very different ideas of justiceMeghna Gulzar’s hard-hitting thriller asks a difficult question without offering easy answers.
Published: September 17, 2026, 1:17 PM IST
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Daayra review (PC: IMDb)
Meghna Gulzar has never been one for easy answers, and Daayra proves that yet againIt deals with a crime that is disturbing enough on its own, but the film becomes even more difficult to process when the question of justice enters the pictureAnother hard-hitting masterpiece from Meghna Gulzar the director of Talvar and Raazi, Daayra takes a scenario that feels painfully close to real life and turns it into a gripping, emotionally charged watch about what happens when the system fails and people decide to take matters into their own handsWhat happens when the people responsible for enforcing the law start believing that the law is not enough? Starring Kareena Kapoor Khan as DCP Ajooni Kohli and Prithviraj Sukumaran as DCP Raman Kumar, Daayra turns this conflict into the heart of its storyThe film is inspired by real incidents, but Gulzar has clarified that it is not based on one particular caseInstead, several incidents were researched and brought together for the film.
Daayra plot: A story that feels too real to ignore (Spoiler alert)
Daayra doesn’t just tell a story, it makes you sit with some deeply uncomfortable questions long after the credits rollIt follows the investigation into the rape and murder of a young woman, a case that exposes serious failures within the police and justice systemA young woman’s desperate phone call sets the story in motion as she tells her family that her scooter has gone missing and her phone’s battery is about to dieShe accepts help from a passing truck driver, but her fear grows as her mother and brother struggles to reach her in time
Their attempts to seek police help are failed, with no FIR registered, only for the case to take a devastating turn when her fully burnt body is discovered the following dayWhat begins as a missing-person case soon opens up into a horrific investigation involving rape, murder, and a deeply troubling question of justice.
The film loosely draws inspiration from the 2019 Hyderabad rape and murder case (and several other real incidents too), one of those incidents that left the country furious and heartbroken in equal measureBy rooting the story in something so real and hard, Gulzar makes sure the audience isn’t just watching a thriller unfold, they’re feeling it, because the anger and helplessness on screen mirrors what so many felt in real time.
Raman Kumar: The cop who chose justice over law
Prithviraj Sukumaran plays DPC Raman Kumar, a highly skilled police officer who in Daayra, along with his team, decides that the law is too slow, too broken, or simply too unreliable to deliver justice for a crime this horrificWhen the accused keeps slipping through loopholes and finding ways to escape accountability, Raman and his team take a drastic step, a planned encounter that blurs every line between duty and vigilantism
Prithviraj brings a quiet intensity to the role, playing a man who genuinely believes he’s doing the right thing, even as he crosses a line that can never really be uncrossedIt’s a performance that doesn’t ask you to like him, but it does make you understand him, which is far more unsettling.
Ajooni Kohli: Standing for law, even when it’s hard
On the other side is Kareena Kapoor Khan as Ajooni Kohli, part of the Special Investigating Team (SIT) looking into the very encounter Raman’s team carried outIn Daayra, Ajooni represents everything Raman has walked away from, the belief that the law, however slow or flawed, still has to do its dutyKareena plays her with a conviction that never feels preachy, she’s not there to prove anyone, she’s simply someone who believes that if the system is broken, the answer is to fix it, not abandon it
There is only one scene of Kareena and Prithviraj together where Ajooni says, “Law ka ek framework hai DCP Kumar jiske daayre mein kaam karti hoon, to which DPC Raman replies, “Or me nahi krta”, pretty much sums up the moral tug of war at the heart of the film.
Daayra’s biggest strength: Battle between revenge and justice
At its core, Daayra is about the thin line between revenge and justiceRaman believes that the accused should face immediate punishment, while Ajooni believes that the law must be allowed to take its course.
That difference gives the film its strongest conflictIt is not simply a police-versus-criminal storyIt is police versus police, with both sides claiming to be working for justiceThe film’s most uncomfortable moments come from this very conflictWhen a horrific crime takes place and the girl dies, emotions naturally run highBut Daayra asks whether emotional outrage can become a reason to bypass the law.
Meghna Gulzar lays out both sides with equal weight, letting viewers pick up their own beliefs about what justice should actually look like when the system has already failed a victim
The second half of Daayra feels a little stretched, with the pace dipping as the investigation moves forwardStill, the film regains its intensity in key moments and keeps its central conflict engaging
Daayra: Skip or watch?
Daayra is the kind of watch that doesn’t end when the credits rollIt tackles uncomfortable themes with a raw, hard-hitting approach, leaving you with plenty to think about.
Meghna Gulzar once again shows her ability to take difficult subjects and present them in a way that remains emotionally connected to the audienceThe film does not feel like an extraordinary story happening in a distant worldInstead, it draws from the kind of incidents that have repeatedly made headlines in India.
This is a film about accountability, about law, and about how thin the line between revenge and justice really is.
Verdict: Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran make the central conflict compelling, while Meghna Gulzar keeps the focus on law, justice and accountabilityThe result is a gripping and hard-hitting crime drama that stays with you even after the credits roll.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
