By Team INVC | INVC NEWS
Published: August 31, 2026 |04 : 15 PM IST
MUMBAI, India | August 31, 2026 —
The Daayra trailer has arrived, putting Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran on opposite sides of a disturbing criminal investigation in Meghna Gulzar’s new crime thriller.
Released on Monday, the tense 2-minute-19-second trailer introduces Kareena as DCP Ajooni Kohli and Prithviraj as DCP Raman Kumar, two senior police officers investigating the same case but approaching truth, law and justice from sharply different perspectives.
Inspired by true events, Daayra is not being presented as a simple police-versus-criminal story.
Instead, its central question is more uncomfortable: what happens when public perception, police procedure and personal belief produce different versions of the truth?
Daayra Trailer Begins With a Girl Going Missing
The trailer opens with the disappearance of a young girl.
Her desperate mother approaches the police, hoping investigators can bring her daughter home.
The case soon takes a darker turn when the girl is found dead.
What initially appears to be a straightforward hunt for a killer gradually becomes a much more complicated examination of evidence, policing and accountability.
DCP Raman Kumar and DCP Ajooni Kohli begin looking at the case from opposing positions.
As new information emerges, earlier assumptions start to look less certain.
That shifting perspective appears to be the central strength of the film.
Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj Play Rival Cops
Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Ajooni Kohli appears controlled, methodical and unwilling to accept easy conclusions.
Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Raman Kumar, meanwhile, is portrayed as a forceful police officer whose methods and understanding of justice come under scrutiny.
The trailer repeatedly places the two officers in confrontation.
They are not fighting because one simply wants justice and the other does not.
Instead, both appear convinced that their own understanding of the case is correct.
That is where Daayra creates its moral conflict.
When evidence, law and instinct do not point in exactly the same direction, who gets to decide what justice looks like?
True Events Inspire Daayra, but Film Is Not a Documentary
The makers describe Daayra as inspired by true events.
However, the film is being presented as a fictional investigative crime thriller rather than a documentary recreation of one publicly identified case.
That distinction matters.
The trailer uses a serious crime as the starting point for a wider examination of how society reacts when public anger begins shaping assumptions before the complete truth is established.
It asks uncomfortable questions about how quickly a narrative can become a verdict.
Meghna Gulzar Returns to the Grey Areas of Justice
Director Meghna Gulzar has repeatedly explored stories where easy answers are difficult to find.
Her earlier films include Talvar, Raazi, Chhapaak and Sam Bahadur.
With Daayra, she appears to return directly to the morally complicated territory associated with Talvar.
The screenplay has been written by Yash Keswani, Sima Agarwal and Meghna Gulzar.
The film also marks Meghna Gulzar’s third collaboration with Junglee Pictures after Talvar and Raazi.
Also Read – : Most Anticipated Indian Movies of 2026: Release Dates and Full Film Calendar
Strong Supporting Cast Adds Weight to Investigation
Alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, the film features a substantial supporting cast including:
- Jitendra Joshi
- Kshitee Jog
- Kanwaljeet Singh
- Sandeep Kulkarni
- Trupti Khamkar
The ensemble gives the trailer the feel of an investigation involving multiple versions of events rather than a conventional two-star confrontation.
Every new character appears capable of changing how the audience understands what happened.
First Film Together for Kareena and Prithviraj
Daayra also marks the first on-screen collaboration between Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran.
That casting itself gives the film considerable pan-India attention.
Kareena brings one of Hindi cinema’s most recognisable faces to the project, while Prithviraj has built a strong audience across Malayalam cinema and increasingly in Hindi-speaking markets.
Their opposing cop characters allow the film to use that star power without turning the story into a conventional hero-villain battle.
Also Read – : Box Office Report: Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Khalifa Enters the Race as Major Films Battle for Audiences
Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios Join Hands
Daayra is produced by Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios, marking their first collaboration on a feature film.
It is presented by Junglee Pictures and Dr. Jayantilal Gada’s Pen Studios, with Pen Marudhar handling distribution.
The film’s cinematography is by Saurabh Goswami, while Charu Shree Roy and Meghna Gulzar are associated with editing.
Amit Trivedi is handling the music, with lyrics by Gulzar.
When Is Daayra Releasing?
Daayra is scheduled to release in cinemas on:
September 18, 2026
Current theatrical listings identify it as a Hindi-language release.
With less than three weeks remaining before release, the trailer is likely to become the centrepiece of the film’s promotional campaign.
Why Daayra Could Stand Out
The biggest attraction in the trailer is not an action set-piece or a conventional mystery reveal.
It is uncertainty.
The audience is repeatedly encouraged to reconsider what it has already seen.
That could give Daayra an advantage among viewers looking for a serious investigative thriller rather than another predictable police drama.
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran provide the star power.
But Meghna Gulzar appears to be betting on something more difficult: making audiences question whether truth, law and justice always mean the same thing.
That question could ultimately decide whether Daayra becomes merely a gripping thriller—or one of the most discussed Hindi films of September.
