Rating: ⭐⭐ (2/5)

Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes

Genre: Crime Thriller / Drama

Director: Meghna Gulzar

Cast: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Jitendra Joshi, Kshitee Jog, Pragati Mishra

Some films entertain you. Some make you think. And then there are films like ‘Daayra’, which arrive with a terrific question, two powerhouse actors and a director known for morally complicated stories—only to leave you wondering whether the film itself lost track of the question somewhere along the way.

Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra revolves around a disturbing crime, a controversial police encounter and one uncomfortable question: When the system fails to deliver justice, can the police decide where justice begins and ends?

It is a meaty premise. It has tension, moral conflict and enough grey areas to fuel a terrific thriller.

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t always extract the maximum juice from all of it.

The Story: When an Encounter Becomes the Real Crime Scene

The story begins with the disappearance of a young woman, Ragini (Pragati Mishra). When her burnt body is discovered, public anger explodes and the police come under immense pressure to find the culprits.

Enter DCP Raman Kumar (Prithviraj Sukumaran), a cop known for getting results.

Four suspects are arrested. But before they can face the court, they are killed in a police encounter.

The police version is simple: the accused tried to escape and opened fire, forcing the cops to retaliate.

The public, meanwhile, celebrates the encounter as instant justice.

But not everyone is convinced.

DCP Ajooni Kohli (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is brought in to head an investigation into the encounter. Her job is not to decide whether the accused deserved punishment. Her job is to find out whether the police followed the law while delivering it.

And that's where Daayra gets interesting.

Raman believes results matter. Ajooni believes procedure matters.

One is driven by the anger of seeing criminals walk free. The other is determined to find out whether the people enforcing the law crossed the line themselves.

Basically, one cop wants justice quickly, the other wants to know whether what happened can legally be called justice at all.

Performances: Prithviraj Owns the Screen

Let's get this out of the way—Prithviraj Sukumaran is terrific.

As Raman Kumar, he doesn't need to constantly shout or throw dramatic punches to establish authority. His eyes, body language and controlled aggression do most of the work.

There is an underlying anger in his performance that makes the character fascinating. You can understand why the public supports him, even when the film starts questioning his methods.

Kareena Kapoor Khan is restrained as Ajooni. She plays the character with control rather than unnecessary theatrics. The problem isn't her performance; it is that the screenplay doesn't consistently give her enough material to make the character as memorable as Raman.

And that's a missed opportunity.

When you put Kareena and Prithviraj in the same film and set them up on opposite sides of a moral argument, you expect fireworks.

Daayra occasionally gives you sparks.

But not enough fire.

Direction: Meghna Gulzar Knows the Terrain

Meghna Gulzar is clearly comfortable in morally complicated territory.

The film doesn't simply divide the world into heroes and villains. Instead, it keeps asking whether a person can be right about the problem and still be wrong about the solution.

That is where the film is at its strongest.

The investigation scenes work particularly well when Ajooni starts reconstructing events and questioning details that others have accepted as fact.

The police-versus-police tension also gives the film an interesting edge.

But the second half starts feeling stretched, and the narrative occasionally loses the tight grip it establishes early on.

Storyline: Strong Question, Uneven Answers

The biggest strength of Daayra is its central conflict.

The biggest weakness is that the film doesn't always know how far to push it.

The idea of encounter justice versus due process is extremely relevant and inherently dramatic. The film has enough material to make the audience constantly question whom they should support.

But some subplots dilute that focus.

Instead of tightening the central conflict, the narrative sometimes wanders into territory that feels less essential.

And when the story finally reaches the point where you're expecting a knockout confrontation, the payoff doesn't quite land with the force you anticipate.

Screenplay: This Is Where the ‘Daayra’ Gets a Little Too Wide

The screenplay has some excellent dramatic moments, but the pacing isn't consistently sharp.

The first half builds curiosity effectively. You want to know what really happened and whether Raman's encounter story holds up.

After the interval, however, the film starts taking its time.

There are moments where you're completely invested, followed by stretches where you start thinking, “Bhai, point pe aao.”

The film also occasionally makes its timeline and narrative transitions harder to follow.

And for a thriller that depends heavily on investigation and suspense, that's a problem.

Technical Aspects: Serious, Grounded and Effective

Visually, Daayra doesn't try to make crime look glamorous.

The cinematography keeps the atmosphere grounded, while the close-up-heavy approach works particularly well during tense exchanges.

The background score does much of the heavy lifting. It quietly builds tension without screaming, “LOOK, THIS IS A THRILLER!”

The production design and costumes also maintain a realistic police-drama texture.

Technically, the film knows what mood it wants.

The issue is that the screenplay doesn't always maintain that mood at the same intensity.

What Doesn't Work

The biggest problem is the stretched second half.

The film has enough material for a sharp, gripping crime drama, but some portions could have been trimmed without losing anything important.

The second issue is the underutilisation of Kareena's character.

The third—and perhaps the most frustrating—is the climax.

After spending so much time building the conflict between two cops and two definitions of justice, you naturally expect the ending to explode.

Instead, the film leaves you wanting a stronger dramatic payoff.

It's almost like the film spends two hours loading the gun and then forgets to pull the trigger properly.

Music: Background Score Does the Real Work

Music isn't really the reason to watch Daayra.

The film relies much more on its background score and sound design to create atmosphere.

And thankfully, that works.

The score complements the investigation and tense police sequences without overpowering them.

Final Verdict

‘Daayra’ has the ingredients of a cracking crime thriller—an excellent premise, two strong actors and a director who knows how to explore moral grey zones. But uneven pacing, an underwritten Kareena character and a frustratingly underwhelming payoff keep it from becoming the gripping thriller it could have been.

Watch it for Prithviraj and the questions it raises. Skip it if you're expecting a fast, twist-heavy thriller that keeps punching until the final frame.

⭐ Rating: 2/5