Is Meghna Gulzar's 'Daayra' Based On A True Story? Here's What We Know About The Crime Thriller Film
Meghna Gulzar's 'Daayra', starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, is set to release on September 18, 2026.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleDaayra is a highly anticipated film of 2026. For the unversed, on September 18, 2026, Daayra is scheduled to hit the theatres. The film stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead roles. Prithviraj plays the role of 'DCP Raman Kumar', while Kareena portrays the role of 'DCP Ajooni Kohli'. However, Prithviraj and Kareena’s stellar performances as cops lead many to wonder if Daayra is based on a true story.
Is Daayra inspired by true events?
Daayra follows the story of two cops, 'DCP Raman Kumar' and 'DCP Ajooni Kohli'. They are senior police officers and are totally opposite when it comes to justice and policing. The story kicks off with a horrific case involving the kidnapping and rape of a young woman. The investigation eventually leads to a controversial police encounter involving the accused.
However, 'DCP Raman' and 'DCP Ajooni' have two different approaches to this. While 'Ajooni' starts questioning whether the police encounter was actually justified and whether the police followed the right methods, 'Raman' believes in taking a tough approach to crime and justice. Now, that the film has created buzz on social media with its suspense-filled storyline, the question remains: is it based on true events? The answer to the question is: Yes.
Although Daayra is inspired by true events, the director of the film, Meghna Gulzar, who co-wrote the crime thriller along with Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani, clarified that the movie is not based on any particular real-life incident. Earlier, there had been speculation that the film starring Kareena and Prithviraj was based on the 2019 Hyderabad rape and murder case, which was followed by the controversial police encounter of the four accused.
In an interview with PTI, Meghna Gulzar shared that Daayra explored the grey areas of justice. She explained that what may be justice for someone may be injustice for someone else. She then shed light on the most-asked question: whether Daayra has a connection with the 2019 Hyderabad rape and murder case, which was followed by the controversial police encounter of the four accused.
The director clarified that Daayra is not solely based in a particular city, whether in South India or North India. The characters and location have also been kept region-neutral, as she didn’t want to highlight the success or the failure of a particular police force of a particular state.
Why is Daayra being connected to the 2019 Hyderabad rape and murder case?
On November 27, 2019, a 26-year-old veterinary doctor was kidnapped, raped and murdered on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Her body was found near Chatanpally, in Shadnagar. The case sent shockwaves across the country and sparked widespread public outrage and intense debate. To protect the victim’s identity, the case acquired the name 'Disha'. Four men were arrested in connection with this case. However, nine days after the crime, all four accused were dead.
On December 6, 2019, the four accused were taken to Chatanpally to reconstruct the events surrounding the murder. The police officials said the four men attempted to escape and opened fire after taking weapons from the police. In self-defence, the four died in the police encounter. Many people angry about the crime involving the veterinary doctor saw the encounter as quick justice, but an important question emerged.
The question was whether the four accused were killed in a genuine encounter or were they deliberately killed by the police. The Supreme Court appointed a three-member inquiry commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice V S Sirpurkar, to examine how the four main suspects in the Disha case died. It concluded that the four accused had been deliberately killed; thus, the panel recommended prosecution of 10 police officers, including action under Section 302 of the IPC. Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra is also questioning the same matter and exploring the grey areas of justice.
Are you planning to watch Daayra? Let us know.
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