Synopsis – TV star Samar’s life spirals when his ex Gayatri accuses him of rape after he blocks contact with her. Despite his new relationship with Khushi, he faces arrest and encounters a corrupt justice system.
My Take – With the acclaimed Ashram on MX Player, Animal (2023), and a string of villainous turns in Telugu and Tamil cinema, Bobby Deol has certainly reinvented himself in the post‑pandemic era. Yet, none of those roles match the depth and daring of his latest outing in Anurag Kashyap’s new directorial venture. Here, Deol ventures into uncharted territory, embracing darker, more complex shades and delivering a performance that anchors a film designed to unsettle its audience at every turn.
Co‑written by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee, the film marks a bold step for Hindi cinema. Where female‑centric stories often reduce men to caricatures of chauvinism, and male‑centric ones glorify toxic masculinity while sidelining women, this narrative resists both extremes. It confronts its protagonist’s flaws head‑on, refusing to sanitize or excuse them. The result is a work that is raw, brutal, and unflinchingly realistic.
Yes, the pacing is deliberate, and certain moments where characters rationalize horrific acts as fallout from false accusations may ignite debate. But director Kashyap never condones such behavior. Instead, he shapes these moments into a commentary that leaves viewers deeply unsettled, especially as the film grapples with cancel culture, ideological divides between genders, and the fragility of modern relationships.
This is not a conventional prison drama with neat heroes and villains. It is a morally ambiguous exploration that demands the audience sit with discomfort. Bobby Deol’s committed performance is the film’s beating heart, elevating its uncompromising vision. Watch it if you value cinema that is thought‑provoking, and unafraid to confront the unease within us.
The story follows Samar Mehra (Bobby Deol), a washed‑out middle‑aged singer and former TV star who scrapes by performing at small events. Though he finds solace in his much younger girlfriend Khushi (Saba Azad), Samar remains demotivated, clinging to fading hopes of making it big in the entertainment industry.
His dull existence takes a grim turn when he is arrested after Gayatri (Sapna Pabbi), a woman he recently ghosted following a hook up from a dating app, accuses him of rape. Despite his pleas of innocence, the evidence appears stacked against him, and his bail is denied.
As Samar’s sister Suhaani (Sanya Malhotra) and her lawyer friend (Riddhi Sen) fight to prove his innocence, he is forced to endure a harrowing prison life filled with psychological trauma and relentless abuse. What begins as the downfall of a failed celebrity spirals into a brutal exploration of survival, guilt, and the crushing weight of accusation.
The film is unmistakably Anurag Kashyap. His fingerprints are visible from the opening frame: no glamour, no concessions to conventional thriller mechanics, only a world that feels grubby, real, and suffocating. With its dark themes and unsettling intensity, director Kashyap brings this tricky story to life with ease, exposing the harsh realities of the justice system and prison life. The trial jail itself becomes a character, thanks to striking cinematography.
The unhygienic conditions, deplorable food, and overcrowding underline the denial of basic human rights. Samar, still only an accused, is branded a rapist not just by the police but by fellow inmates. The film even highlights the disturbing hierarchy of stigma inside prison, where rape is considered worse than murder, and inmates advise Samar to claim the latter instead.
The narrative deliberately places Samar in a morally ambiguous space. It never validates his plea of innocence outright. Was his encounter with Gayatri consensual or not? Gayatri’s actions, seemingly unreasonable, are contextualized through her troubled past and further reinforced when Suhaani confronts Samar about ghosting and blocking her.
Near the end, Samar’s introspection leads him to preemptively apologize to Khushi, acknowledging the pain he may have caused. The screenplay, however, tries to carry more weight than it can sustain. Power structures, media trials, gender politics, institutional failure, and personal redemption are all present, each worthy of exploration, but the attempt to juggle them dilutes their impact. At times, the film feels more intent on making statements than telling a cohesive story, and the narrative momentum falters as a result.
Performance wise, Bobby Deol effortlessly commands the screen. Stripped of frills and props, he delivers one of the finest performances of his career, marked by maturity, control, vulnerability, and raw emotional strength. His breakdowns in the face of a broken justice system are goosebumps‑inducing, pulling the viewer directly into his anguish. Deol balances every facet of his layered character with precision, making his presence the film’s most compelling force.
Sapna Pabbi convincingly channels the volatility and pain of Gayatri, bringing the necessary histrionics to her troubled role. Saba Azad and Sanya Malhotra shine with nuanced turns that add depth to the narrative.
Indrajith Sukumaran, Riddhi Sen, and Jitendra Joshi stand out with exceptional turns, while Nagesh Bhosle, Ankush Gedam, Sukant Goel, Raj Shetty, and Jaimini Pathak contribute solid, reliable portrayals that round out the ensemble. On the whole, ‘Bandar‘ is a hard-hitting and unapologetically abrasive prison drama anchored by Bobby Deol’s powerhouse performance
Directed – Anurag Kashyap
Starring – Bobby Deol, Sanya Malhotra, Sapna Pabbi
Rated – R
Run Time – 140 minutes