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Prithviraj Sukumaran is returning to Hindi cinema with Daayra, Meghna Gulzar’s upcoming crime thriller that places two senior police officers on opposing sides of a complicated investigation. While the film’s trailer establishes a clear clash between Kareena Kapoor Khan’s DCP Ajooni Kohli and Prithviraj’s DCP Raman Kumar, the actor believes the film itself does not tell viewers which character is right or wrong.

In a recent conversation with Filmfare, Prithviraj spoke about the film’s deliberately objective approach to its subject. “Daayra doesn’t pick a side, it’s for the audience to decide,” he said, highlighting one of the central ideas behind Gulzar’s film.

Set against the aftermath of a disturbing crime, Daayra follows two officers whose understanding of law, duty and justice begins to diverge as the investigation progresses. Raman Kumar appears willing to push the boundaries of procedure, while Ajooni Kohli takes a more measured approach to the case. Their disagreement eventually becomes a larger debate about whether justice can ever be separated from the systems meant to deliver it.

Two cops, two ideas of justice

The trailer introduces Daayra as a story that is less interested in providing a straightforward answer and more invested in examining what happens when different interpretations of justice collide. The central crime acts as the catalyst, but the narrative gradually moves towards the consequences that follow and the choices made by those investigating it.

Prithviraj’s Raman is a senior police officer whose methods raise questions about the limits of institutional power. Kareena’s Ajooni, meanwhile, finds herself questioning the actions and assumptions surrounding the case. Both characters operate within the same system, but their approaches to justice are fundamentally different.

The film’s refusal to clearly designate one perspective as the correct one is part of what attracted Prithviraj to the project. The actor has previously explained that what drew him to Raman was the character’s complexity and the questions he grapples with during the investigation. He has also stressed that Daayra maintains its objectivity until the end, allowing viewers to arrive at their own conclusions.

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That approach places the audience in a particularly interesting position. Rather than simply following a hero’s pursuit of justice, viewers are asked to consider the arguments on both sides and decide for themselves where the line between justice, accountability and retribution lies.

Meghna Gulzar returns to morally complex territory

For Meghna Gulzar, Daayra marks another foray into the investigative drama following Talvar. The filmmaker has built a body of work that often examines complicated social and institutional questions without reducing them to simple binaries. Daayra continues that exploration by focusing on the grey areas surrounding crime and punishment.

The film is inspired by true events, although it is not based on one particular case. Its narrative draws from real-life incidents and systemic issues, using them as the foundation for a fictional story about the aftermath of a crime and the competing perspectives that emerge around it.

Daayra also marks the first screen collaboration between Kareena and Prithviraj. Both actors play senior police officers, giving the film’s central conflict an additional layer because the disagreement is not simply personal. It is rooted in their opposing beliefs about how the law should function and how justice should ultimately be served.

Written by Yash Keswani, Sima Agarwal and Meghna Gulzar, the film is produced by Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios. The ensemble cast includes Jitendra Joshi, Kshitee Jog, Kanwaljeet Singh, Sandeep Kulkarni and Trupti Khamkar.

With its morally ambiguous premise and two leads representing contrasting points of view, Daayra is shaping up as a film that wants its audience to debate rather than dictate. As Prithviraj’s comments suggest, the final judgement belongs to those watching the story unfold.

Daayra is scheduled to release in cinemas on September 18.

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