Daayra releases today: Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj face off

A crime thriller opens in a busy week

"Daayra", directed by Meghna Gulzar, releases in theatres today, 18 September 2026. It is a crime thriller starring Kareena Kapoor Khan as DCP Ajooni and Prithviraj Sukumaran as DCP Raman.

Early reviews are mixed to positive. Reviewers have praised the performances and the film's moral complexity, while some have said it stops short of full impact.

The film arrives as a content-driven release in a competitive week, with a major streaming title landing the same day.

Two officers, one case: the casting decision

The structure the film is built on is a direct one: two senior police officers, played by two leads from different industries.

Kareena Kapoor Khan plays a restrained cop role, set against Prithviraj Sukumaran. That word, restrained, is the one that recurs in the early notices, and it signals a performance working against the register the role could easily have been played in.

Pairing a Hindi-cinema lead with a Malayalam-cinema lead in a two-hander is the more structurally interesting choice. It gives the film two distinct performance traditions inside the same frame, and the early praise for the performances suggests the contrast is doing work rather than creating a mismatch.

What the early reviews are actually saying

The response reported by India Today, Filmfare and CNBC-TV18 splits cleanly.

On the positive side: the performances, and the moral complexity of the material. On the critical side: a sense that the film stops short of full impact.

That is a recognisable pattern for a certain kind of Indian crime drama. A film that refuses easy moral positions will often be admired for its restraint and then faulted for not delivering the release that a thriller structure sets up. The early reviews suggest "Daayra" sits in exactly that space.

It is worth noting that these are first-day notices. The fuller critical picture, and the audience verdict, will take the weekend to form.

Meghna Gulzar's position in the release calendar

Gulzar directs, and her involvement is what places the film in the content-driven category rather than the mass-entertainer one.

That classification matters commercially. Content-driven releases typically open modestly and depend on word of mouth building across the first weekend and into the following week, rather than on a large opening day. A mixed-to-positive critical reception is workable for that model in a way it would not be for a film relying on a big opening.

What a content-driven release needs from its first weekend

The commercial model for a film in this category is different from that of a mass entertainer, and it changes how the first few days should be read.

A mass entertainer front-loads: the largest collections come on day one and taper from there, and a weak opening is usually fatal. A content-driven release works the other way. It opens smaller, and the figure that matters is whether Saturday and Sunday hold or grow against Friday, because that is the signal that word of mouth is spreading.

Mixed-to-positive reviews are workable inside that model. Reviews that praise performances and moral complexity give a film something specific for audiences to recommend, which is what drives the weekend hold.

Two industries in one frame

The pairing of Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran is also a commercial proposition as well as an artistic one.

A Hindi-cinema lead opposite a Malayalam-cinema lead widens the film's potential audience across language markets in a way a single-industry casting would not. Whether that translates into collections depends on how widely the film has been released, and no screen count has been published.

The competition it faces today

The same day brings a significant streaming release. "Lust Stories 3" dropped on Netflix today, alongside regional titles including "Irumudi", "Thudakkam" and "Kattalan".

A high-profile anthology arriving on a major streaming platform on the same Friday is real competition for an adult, content-led theatrical release, because both are chasing the same audience. That audience has to choose between a ticket and a title already included in a subscription they hold.

What is coming in the next week

The release window ahead is crowded:

• Nani's "The Paradise" releases in theatres on 24 September.
• "Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha" releases on 25 September.
• "The Great Indian Kapil Show" Season 5 premieres on Netflix on 26 September.

That leaves "Daayra" roughly six days of clear theatrical air before the next major theatrical arrival. For a film depending on word of mouth, that first week is the whole opportunity.

The six-day window before the next big release

The release calendar gives "Daayra" a defined run before the next major theatrical arrival.

Nani's "The Paradise" releases on 24 September, and "Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha" follows on 25 September. That leaves roughly six days in which "Daayra" is the week's principal theatrical draw for an adult audience.

For a film built on word of mouth rather than on opening-day scale, that window is effectively the entire commercial opportunity. Screens are reallocated quickly once a bigger title arrives, and a content-led release that has not established itself inside its first week rarely recovers the space afterwards.

What has not been reported

Several things are not yet on the record:

• No opening-day collection figures have been reported.
• No screen count or release scale has been published.
• No streaming or satellite arrangement has been announced.
• Runtime and certification details have not been reported.

First-day numbers from trade trackers would normally follow tomorrow.

Frequently asked questions

When does Daayra release?

"Daayra" releases in theatres today, 18 September 2026. It is directed by Meghna Gulzar and stars Kareena Kapoor Khan as DCP Ajooni and Prithviraj Sukumaran as DCP Raman.

What is the Daayra review verdict?

Early reviews are mixed to positive. Reviewers have praised the performances and the film's moral complexity, while some have said it stops short of full impact. These are first-day notices and the fuller picture will take the weekend to form.

Who plays the lead roles in Daayra?

Kareena Kapoor Khan plays DCP Ajooni in what reviewers have described as a restrained performance, opposite Prithviraj Sukumaran as DCP Raman. The film is built as a two-hander between the two senior officers.

What else is releasing alongside Daayra today?

"Lust Stories 3" dropped on Netflix the same day, along with regional titles including "Irumudi", "Thudakkam" and "Kattalan". Nani's "The Paradise" follows in theatres on 24 September.