Released on June 5, 2026, Bandar Movie is the kind of Bollywood film that does not hold your hand. It does not give you a hero to root for unconditionally. It does not resolve its moral ambiguity with a tidy courtroom monologue or a redemption arc tied with a bow. What it gives you instead is two hours of discomfort, a prison drama that crawls under your skin and refuses to leave, and a Bobby Deol performance that I genuinely did not see coming.
I went into Bandar Movie with cautious optimism. Anurag Kashyap’s last few films had been, frankly, a mixed bag. But when I walked out of the theatre this morning, I sat in my car for a few minutes just letting it settle. That does not happen often. So here is my full, honest take on what Bandar gets right, where it stumbles, and whether you should spend your Friday evening watching it.
Bandar Movie at a Glance
Bandar Movie, which translates literally to Monkey and releases internationally as Monkey in a Cage, is a 2025 Indian crime thriller that finally hit Indian theatres on June 5, 2026, after premiering at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025. It is directed by Anurag Kashyap alongside co-director Sakshi Mehta Lau, produced by Nikhil Dwivedi under his banner Saffron Magicworks, and distributed by Zee Studios. The screenplay is written by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee, the same duo behind the celebrated web series Paatal Lok, which immediately sets expectations high.
The film runs at approximately 136 to 140 minutes and is certified for adult audiences, carrying content that is raw, grim, and deliberately uncomfortable.
Bandar Movie Cast and Crew
Director: Anurag Kashyap and Sakshi Mehta Lau
Writers: Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee
Producer: Nikhil Dwivedi
Cinematography: Saiyed Shaaz Rizvi
Editing: Aarti Bajaj
Music: Amit Trivedi, Vishal Mishra, and others for songs; Shivahari Varma for the score
Bobby Deol as Samar Mehra, a fading television actor
Sanya Malhotra as Suhani, Samar’s sister
Sapna Pabbi as Gayatri, Samar’s ex-girlfriend and accuser
Saba Azad as Samar’s current partner
Indrajith Sukumaran, Raj B. Shetty, and Jitendra Joshi in strong supporting roles
Riddhi Sen and Nagesh Bhosle rounding out the ensemble
The cast reads like a dream on paper, and for the most part, it delivers exactly what the film demands from each of them.
What Is Bandar Movie About
Samar Mehra is a man who was once somebody. A television star in his prime, now pushing fifty, financially struggling, professionally invisible, and emotionally scattered. He has a new girlfriend he is genuinely trying to be good for. He is trying to piece together whatever is left of his life.
And then, one night, the police show up.
His former fling Gayatri, a woman he met on a dating app and then promptly ghosted after a brief relationship, accuses him of rape. Samar insists it was consensual. Gayatri insists it was not. What follows is not so much a courtroom drama as it is a prison drama, an unbearable look at India’s undertrial system and the way it swallows people whole before a single hearing even begins.
The story is inspired by real events. Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee, known for their grounded and unflinching screenwriting, do not dramatize this into a Bollywood thriller with big revelations and dramatic twists. Instead, they let the rot of the system speak for itself. The script walks a very dangerous line, one that could easily be read as an anti-MeToo apology, and to the film’s credit, it largely avoids that trap, especially in the Indian cut, which removes a controversial closing text on false rape case statistics that was present at the TIFF premiere.
Without that text, Bandar is no longer a film making a political argument. It becomes an observation. A portrait of a man still performing his innocence long after the audience has stopped believing either version of the story.
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Bobby Deol: The Performance That Makes This Film
Let me be direct. Bobby Deol is the reason you should watch Bandar Movie.
There have been occasional glimpses of this version of Bobby Deol over the last few years, but nothing prepares you for what he does here. He plays Samar not as a victim, not as a hero, not even as someone entirely sympathetic. He plays him as a man who did not handle things right and knows it, even if he refuses to call what happened assault. He is flawed, defensive, sometimes infuriating, and then suddenly, devastatingly human.
There is a scene where he apologises to a policeman over a slip of the tongue that caught me completely off guard. Not dramatic, not loud, just small and broken and real. There is another moment where he smiles with a chipped tooth, looking at someone through prison bars, and it hits you harder than any dialogue in the film.
Fans on social media have already started calling this his career-best performance, and having seen the film, I find it very hard to disagree. The Animal version of Bobby Deol was magnetic, but this is something different. This is actual acting, internal, restrained, and deeply felt.
Bandar Movie Supporting Cast
Sanya Malhotra as Suhani is the emotional anchor of the film outside the prison walls. She plays Samar’s sister with a quiet devastation that she does very well. You see the exhaustion on her face, the love beneath the frustration, and the toll that fighting for someone takes on a person who did not ask to be in the fight.
Sapna Pabbi as Gayatri is in a difficult position. The script does not give her much screen time, and the film’s perspective is largely Samar’s, which means her character is more a catalyst than a fully realised person. It is a structural weakness in the writing that she deserves more credit for navigating than she will likely receive.
Saba Azad as Samar’s girlfriend is warm and quietly powerful in the scenes she gets. She is restrained where another actor might have been showy.
The supporting male cast, particularly Jitendra Joshi and Raj B. Shetty, add tremendous texture to the prison sequences. Jitendra Joshi in particular has a scene that made the audience around me laugh and then immediately feel bad about laughing. That is a very specific skill.
Bandar Movie Direction and Cinematography
Kashyap directing alongside Sakshi Mehta Lau feels like a collaboration that worked. There is a grit and rawness to Bandar that is unmistakably Kashyap, but there is also a restraint in some of the more loaded scenes that feels like a steadying hand. The film does not flinch, but it also does not wallow.
Saiyed Shaaz Rizvi’s cinematography is one of the quiet achievements of Bandar. The prison is captured with a suffocating closeness. The outside world, in contrast, feels almost too bright, too open, a visual metaphor the film earns rather than imposes. Aarti Bajaj’s editing keeps things moving even when the screenplay loses its footing in the second half.
The music works largely in the background. Amit Trivedi and Vishal Mishra contribute to a soundtrack that serves the mood without demanding your attention, which is exactly what a film like this needs.
What Worked
Bobby Deol’s performance is the beating heart of this film and it is extraordinary. The writing in the first half is gripping and economical. Kashyap’s depiction of India’s undertrial prison system is unflinching without being exploitative. The film’s refusal to offer easy answers is brave. The supporting cast, especially Jitendra Joshi, brings real life to what could have been flat institutional roles. Aarti Bajaj’s editing ensures the film never feels as long as its runtime suggests. And the humour, yes there is humour, aimed squarely at the law and order machinery, is sharp and earned.
What Did Not Work
The second half loses some of the first half’s urgency. After an extraordinarily tight opening hour, the film begins to feel repetitive in its middle section. You are watching Samar deteriorate in cycles, and while that is truthful, it occasionally tests your patience.
Sapna Pabbi’s Gayatri is underwritten. In a film that is genuinely trying to avoid taking explicit sides, not giving the accuser a fuller interior life is a missed opportunity. It inadvertently tilts the film’s sympathy more than the filmmakers perhaps intended.
The film’s reluctance to fully commit to a conclusion will divide audiences. For some, including me, the ambiguity is the point. For others, particularly those expecting a genre thriller, it will feel like an unfinished sentence.
A Word on the Controversy
Bandar arrived in theatres carrying significant pre-release debate, particularly given that the film deals with a rape accusation against a man in the same cultural moment that has seen the MeToo conversation resurface fiercely in India. The version that released in Indian cinemas differs from the TIFF cut in one significant way: the closing statistics slide on false rape cases has been removed. That decision matters. Without those numbers, the film is not making a political argument. It is holding up a mirror. Whether what you see in that mirror disturbs you will depend a great deal on where you stand walking in.
My Personal View
Bandar is not a comfortable watch, and it is not meant to be. It is the kind of film that an industry in a comfortable place does not make. The fact that it exists, that it arrived with the TIFF stamp, with Kashyap in the director’s chair after a period of relative creative drift, and with Bobby Deol delivering something genuinely extraordinary, is itself worth acknowledging.
Is it a flawless film? No. The second half stumbles, the female lead deserved more, and the ending will frustrate as many people as it moves. But it is a film made with intention, with craft, and with a commitment to asking hard questions without pretending it has the answers.
That is rarer than it should be in Bollywood. And for that alone, Bandar is worth your time.
My Rating
Story and Screenplay: 3.5 out of 5
Direction: 4 out of 5
Bobby Deol’s Performance: 5 out of 5
Supporting Cast: 3.5 out of 5
Cinematography: 4 out of 5
Overall: 3.5 out of 5
Frequently Asked Questions About Bandar Movie (2026)
Is Bandar Movie based on a true story?
Yes, the film is inspired by real events. The screenplay by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee draws from an actual incident, though specific details have been changed for the fictional narrative.
Who directed Bandar Movie?
Bandar is directed by Anurag Kashyap along with co-director Sakshi Mehta Lau. It is Kashyap’s return to the director’s chair after a period in which he had shifted focus to acting.
Who are the main actors in Bandar Movie?
The lead is Bobby Deol as Samar Mehra. Sanya Malhotra plays his sister, Sapna Pabbi plays his accuser Gayatri, and Saba Azad plays his current girlfriend. The supporting cast includes Indrajith Sukumaran, Raj B. Shetty, Jitendra Joshi, and Riddhi Sen.
Did Bandar Movie premiere at a film festival?
Yes, Bandar had its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025 under the international title Monkey in a Cage.
What is the runtime of Bandar Movie?
The film runs for approximately 136 to 140 minutes.
Is Bandar Movie suitable for children?
No. The film deals with themes of sexual assault, the prison system, and moral ambiguity. It is intended for adult audiences and likely carries an A certificate from the CBFC.
What language is Bandar Movie in?
The film is primarily in Hindi but also contains Marathi and English dialogue.
Does Bandar Movie take sides on the MeToo debate?
This is the central question the film wrestles with, and deliberately so. The Indian theatrical cut removed a closing text slide on false rape case statistics that was present in the TIFF version, which significantly changes how the film lands. In its released form, the film leans more toward observation than argument, though reasonable people will interpret it differently.
How is Bobby Deol’s performance in Bandar Movie?
By nearly unanimous critical agreement, this is the best work of Bobby Deol’s career. His portrayal of Samar Mehra is layered, restrained, and genuinely moving.
Is Bandar Movie streaming on OTT?
As of its June 5, 2026 theatrical release, no OTT release date has been announced. Given Zee Studios’ distribution, it is likely to arrive on Zee5 eventually, but no official date has been confirmed at the time of writing.
How does Bandar Movie compare to Anurag Kashyap’s earlier work?
Critics have noted that Bandar feels like a return to form for Kashyap, closer in spirit to his earlier, grittier work than some of his recent projects. It is not quite at the level of his defining films, but it is considered his strongest directorial effort in several years.
Should I watch Bandar Movie in theatres?
If you appreciate adult cinema that takes risks, asks difficult questions, and prioritises character over spectacle, yes, watch it in theatres. It is the kind of film that benefits from the shared, focused experience a cinema provides. If you are looking for a conventional thriller or a crowd-pleasing entertainer, it may not be the right choice for you.
Hi, I’m Prashant Jain — a film enthusiast and critic who lives and breathes cinema. From big-screen releases to the latest drops on OTT, I watch extensively and review honestly, without hype or bias.
I believe a good review should go beyond just “good” or “bad.” It should help you understand what works, what doesn’t, and whether a film is truly worth your time. My reviews focus on storytelling, performances, direction, and overall impact — all through the lens of a genuine viewer.
I regularly cover new movie releases and trending web series across OTT, bringing clear, no-nonsense insights for audiences who want real opinions, not paid praise.
Through PopNewsBlend, I aim to cut through the noise and give you reviews you can trust — whether you’re deciding what to watch next or just love discussing cinema as much as I do.
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